It’s an analogy that deserves a standing ovation. Caroline Lucas, the former Green Party leader and current co-president of the European Union, has soundly rejected the claims that we finally have a Brexit benefit in the form of lower tariffs from the US – and it took less than a week for her to be proved right
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Brexit benefit claims: What are the tariff rates for the UK and EU?
Donald Trump followed through on his threat to introduce sweeping tariffs across the board on almost all major trading partners with the United States. The policy announcement has caused global market volatility, with worse expected to come later in the year
Huge tariffs of more than 30% have been slapped on the likes of China, Vietnam, and South Africa. But one interesting point of divergence briefly came between the EU and the UK, where the former was hit with a 20% rate – and the latter just 10%.
Trump has been accused of using a scattergun formula to implement these rates – and some interesting territories have, somewhat confusingly, encountered the president’s wrath. The Heard and McDonald Islands exemplify this best.
Trump vs the penguins in tariff war
The remote islands, situated between Australia and Antarctica, are completely uninhabited by humans. The last people to visit there made the journey in 2016. It is home to a large penguin colony, and yet… they’ve also been hit with a 10% tariff rate.
So when Caroline Lucas was asked by Sky News host Trevor Phillips if the reduced rate imposed on to the UK was a reason to celebrate earlier this month, the savvy politician was ready to ruffle a few feathers with her response.
Do we finally have a Brexit benefit? Caroline Lucas says no…
The left-leaning former MP pointed out that Brexit is estimated to have wiped about 5% of the UK’s GDP within the last decade – a figure more than 10 times higher than the predicted damage these tariffs could cause – meaning that we are ‘no better off than the penguins’.
And sure enough, she got it right. The so-called ‘Brexit benefit’ lasted four days, before the EU’s tariff rate was dropped to 10%.
“I can’t believe you’re asking me that question seriously. If we were still part of the EU, we’d be so much better off. Brexit cuts our GDP by about 5%. These tariffs will impact our GDP up to 0.3%. So the costs of leaving have been much greater.”
“We now face a double-whammy. Out of the EU, we are facing trade friction, losing up to £100bn a year. Now our ‘special relationship’ is no better than that of an island full of penguins. We’re in the cold, and must [align] with EU allies.” | Caroline Lucas