The former Liberal Democrat leader criticised the pro-Leave vision of how the UK could reap rewards by slashing tariffs after Brexit.
He said: “Brexit enthusiasts claim that when the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, a low-cost bonanza beckons.
“We will unilaterally be able to lower, if not remove all together, all these pesky tariffs that we have been labouring under for so long.
“And consumers will suddenly be operating in an absolute nirvana, a utopia of lower food prices.”
But he added: “I think this ludicrous utopianism, it is simply not going to happen at all.
“I think it is disservice to the debate for anyone to pretend there is this low-cost or zero-tariff utopia waiting for us.”
Mr Clegg slammed the vision as “breathtakingly naive” during a speech at a Brexit event held by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) in London today.
He argued that trade tariffs on imports do not just help French and German farmers but also support by Britain's agricultural community.
The former Deputy Prime Minister claimed that removing tariffs would “whip the carpet up from under the feet” of dairy and cattle farmers in the UK.
This removal of EU tariffs - which currently protect the dairy and beef industry here - could open the markets up to more global competition.
For example, Mr Clegg predicted that allowing the tariff-free import of Argentinian beef would “decimate the British beef industry overnight”.
Mr Clegg also said that getting rid of tariffs would be “self-defeating” because the UK now faces complex trade talks with countries around the world.
He said: “We will have literally thrown away all of our bargaining chips before the negotiations have even started.”
Mr Clegg said: “If we give them the prize that they want before they even ask for it, they will have very incentive left to give us concessions on financial services, legal services and engineering.”
He claimed that the ideologues pushing for the removal of tariffs are “blithely unaware” of the linkages between different products and trade-offs.
For example, he said that lowering the tariffs on oranges from South Africa would hammer Spanish orange exports to the UK.
In such a scenario, he said that Spain would refuse to cut Britain a special deal on things like car manufacturing and financial services.
0 Response to "Nick Clegg slams Brexiteers for “ludicrous utopianism” over post-Brexit trade tariffs"
Posting Komentar