Trade deals van over de hele wereld: december

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In de serie “Handelsverdragen van over de hele wereld” geven we je een maandelijkse update waarin je snel kunt lezen wat er gebeurd in de vele onderhandelingen die er gaande zijn op het gebied van handelsverdragen. 

Een snelle samenvatting van het nieuws over handelsverdragen van de afgelopen maand. 

Het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Canada 

Terwijl het Verenigd Koninkrijk nog steeds in onderhandeling is met de Europese Unie over een handelsverdrag, sluit het wel handelsverdragen met andere landen. We schreven vorige maand al over eerdere handelsverdragen die het Verenigd Koninkrijk al wist te sluiten in de We already wrote about earlier trade agreements the United Kingdom has been able to agree on in de editie van handelsverdragen van over de hele wereld van vorige maand

Het handelsverdrag dat het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Canada hebben gesloten is een tijdelijk verdrag. Premiers Johnson en Trudeau werden het eens over een verlenging van het huidige verdrag dat al tussen de landen bestond via de Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Dit verdrag is alleen dermate aangepast dat het nu specifiek voor het Verenigd Koninkrijk geldt. CBC schrijft hierover: 

"Now we get to continue to work on a bespoke agreement, a comprehensive agreement, over the coming years that will really maximize our trade opportunities and boost things for everyone," Trudeau said.  

"Free trade is an important part of the way that we're going to bounce back from COVID, but I also think that Canada and the U.K. share a perspective about building back greener," said Johnson, who also took a moment to congratulate Trudeau for taking steps to get Canada to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. 

The Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement extends the elimination of tariffs on 98 per cent of goods exported between the two countries and sets the stage for negotiations toward a permanent and more ambitious deal in the new year. The deal could include "the potential to go further in areas like digital trade, the environment and women's economic empowerment," a release from the British government said. 

Lees het hele artikel hier

Het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Kenia 

Ook sloot het Verenigd Koninkrijk een handelsovereenkomst met Kenia. De Britse Overheid schrijft: 

The UK has moved a step closer to signing a sixth trade deal in Africa today (3 November), as negotiations on a trade deal are finalised with Kenya. The agreement will ensure all companies operating in Kenya, including British businesses, can continue to benefit from duty-free access as they export products including vegetables and flowers to their customers back in the UK. 

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  • The agreement will be formally signed shortly once it has been subject to checks. 

  • The deal itself is a translation of the terms previously agreed between the EU and the East African Community (EAC) and includes clauses to allow other East Africa Community states to join in the future. 

  • In under two years, the UK government has signed or agreed in principle trade agreements with 52 countries. Total UK trade with these countries was worth £146 billion in 2019. 

Lees de gehele aankondiging hier

Het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Ivoorkust 

Een ander land waarmee het Verenigd Koninkrijk een handelsovereenkomst mee heeft weten te sluiten is Ivoorkust. De Britse Regering schrijft: 

HM Government has developed new bilateral agreements that replicate, as far as possible, the effects of the United Kingdom’s existing trade agreements with existing partners. These agreements form the starting point for the United Kingdom’s future trade agreements with partners. The United Kingdom-Côte d’Ivoire stepping stone Economic Partnership Agreement (“United Kingdom-Côte d’Ivoire EPA”) is intended to take effect when the EU-Côte d’Ivoire stepping stone Economic Partnership Agreement (“the existing EPA”) ceases to apply to the United Kingdom.

Lees het hele rapport, waarin de implicaties van het verdrag staan omschreven hier

Het Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership verdrag 

Het Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership verdrag, afgekort RCEP, is het grootste regionale handelsverdrag ter wereld. RCEP heeft 15 deelnemende landen, waaronder China, Japan, Zuid Korea, Australië en Nieuw Zeeland. 

Bloomberg schrijft: 

A minimum of six Asean countries in addition to three non-Asean partners must ratify RCEP for it to come into force, Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing told reporters following the signing. Singapore plans to approve the deal “in the next few months,” he said. 

Supporters of the trade pact, which covers 2.2 billion people with a combined GDP of $26.2 trillion, said it will bolster pandemic-weakened economies by reducing tariffs, strengthening supply chains with common rules of origin, and codifying new e-commerce rules. 

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Whether RCEP changes regional dynamics in favor of China depends on the U.S. response, experts said. The agreement underscores how U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2017 decision to withdraw from a different Asia Pacific trade pact -- the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP -- diminished America’s ability to offer a counterbalance to China’s growing regional economic influence. 

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The agreement will make exports of participating countries more competitive and create an integrated market for China and regional nations, Singapore’s Chan said. 

Lees het complete artikel hier

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