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In Business: The Global Trade Referee

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Out in the World

19/04/2018

The Global Trade Referee

BBC Radio 4 - In Business, The Global Trade Referee

What can Brexit Britain expect if it has to fall back on World Trade Organisation rules?

What can Brexit Britain expect if it has to fall back on World Trade Organisation rules? Jonty Bloom goes looking for answers in the long corridors of its Geneva headquarters.

The World Trade Organisation could soon play a crucial role in how Britain does global business. If the UK fails to reach a trade deal with the European Union after Brexit, it will trade solely under rules set by the WTO. So what does that mean? 

Jonty Bloom meets one of the many Brexiteers who believe that reverting to WTO rules could boost Britain's position as a global trade player. Derbyshire clothing manufacturer Christopher Nieper is relaxed about the UK agreeing quotas and tariffs through the WTO, which was created to be a free trade factory. 

But at the WTO's headquarters in Geneva, Jonty learns that brokering trade deals can take many years, with bigger players like the European Union, China and the United States dominating the agenda. And there's the added complication that China and the United States are embarking on a trade war that threatens the WTO's ability to settle global trade disputes. Could the UK once free from the EU, be the one to reinvigorate the WTO and global free trade? Jonty goes looking for answers in its long corridors. 

Producer: Estelle Doyle
Researcher: Darin Graham.

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