Brexit’s reasons

Table of Contents

• Is the United Kingdom not a European economy?
• Immigration
• UK’s contribution to Europe is unfair
• Tools

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Is the United Kingdom not a European economy?

The British market is very important for some (usually small) countries, but much less so for the others. The stakes, therefore, are not the same. British exports to many countries are negligible or small for the UK. This would seem to suggest that the UK will not be very concerned by a trade agreement. In fact, as a whole, the EU27 absorb about half of British exports, while the UK is a relatively small market for the EU27. Another consideration is that Britain tends to import industrial goods and to export services. Should the final agreement treat the UK as just another country, WTO rules would apply by default. These rules imply heavy tariffs for traditional industries, including agro-industrial products, which could hit some countries hard. Since the Ricardian model of trade is relevant in many instances, income redistribution is an important factor.(Wyplosz 2016)

Exports of Goods

In 2019, the exports of the United Kingdom to each destination reached:

• European Union: %
• United States: %
• China: 6.4%
• Switzerland : 3.3%
• Other : 28.5%

Définition

Exports
In the case of the general trade system, export flows come from: (1) The free circulation area, premises for inward processing or industrial free zones; (2) Premises for customs warehousing or commercial free zones. There are three types of exports: (a) Domestic goods originating in the free circulation area or in industrial free zones; (b) Domestic goods comprised of compensating products after inward processing; (c) Foreign goods in the same state as previously imported. In the case of the special trade system under the relaxed definition, the export flows come only from the free circulation area, premises for inward processing or industrial free zones. There are three types of exports: (a) Domestic goods originating in the free circulation area or industrial free zones; (b) Domestic goods comprised of compensating products after inward processing; (c) Foreign goods in the same state as previously imported. There are two possible destinations: (1) The rest of the world; (2) Premises for customs warehousing or commercial free zones.

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Imports of Goods

In 2019, the exports of the United Kingdom to each destination reached:

• European Union: %
• United States: %
• China: 9.5%
• Switzerland : 3.4%
• Other : 28%

Définition

Imports
In the case of the general trade system, import flows come from the rest of the world or from customs transit, i.e., goods redirected from customs transit to remain in the economic territory. There are three types of imports: (a) Foreign goods (other than compensating products after outward processing); (b) Foreign goods comprised of compensating products after outward processing; (c) Domestic goods in the same state as previously exported. (so-called re-imports). These imports are brought into: (1) The free circulation area, premises for inward processing or industrial free zones; (2) Premises for customs warehousing or commercial free zones. In the case of the special trade system, under the relaxed definition, the import flows come from: (1) The rest of the world or from customs transit; (2) Premises for customs warehousing or commercial free zones. There are three types of imports: (a) Foreign goods (other than compensating products after outward processing); (b) Foreign goods comprised of compensating products after outward processing; (c) Domestic goods in the same state as previously exported. The goods are imported into free circulation.

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Inward FDI flows

Region

Year

Outward FDI flows

Region

Year

Immigration

UK’s contribution to Europe is unfair

EU Expenditures

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National Contribution

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Operating Budgetary Balance

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UK correction

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Tools

This section provides access to the resources that were used to create this article.

• Mondo data website [link]
• Tutorials on how to use API and packages [link]
• Programming material in R [link]

Wyplosz, Charles. 2016. “New eBook: What to Do with the UK? EU Perspectives on Brexit.” VoxEU.org. https://voxeu.org/article/new-ebook-what-do-uk-eu-perspectives-brexit.