Expect trade rows after Brexit

London

BRITISH politicians, journalists and think-tanks have not had to worry about trade issues for decades. Since the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957, trade has been a competence of the European Union and its antecedents. When the UK joined in 1973, it transferred authority over trade matters to Brussels.

Before June 2016, when Britain voted to leave the EU, few UK Members of Parliament (MPs) or journalists could explain the term "customs union". Today's line is that, once unshackled from EU trade rules, new trade agreements with faraway countries in Asia or the Americas will replace the open access for the British economy - especially financial services - to the world's biggest market across the English Channel.