Therese Raphael, Columnist

Slashing Tariffs Won't Redeem a No-Deal Brexit

Eliminating trade barriers is always welcome. Just don't claim it will make a big difference to the cost of leaving the EU.

March 9, 2019 at 7:30 AM UTC

By Therese Raphael

Therese Raphael is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion covering health care and British politics. Previously, she was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe.

Decision time.
Photographer: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Europe

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Fast-forward past next week’s critical Brexit votes in the U.K. parliament. If Britain ends up leaving the European Union without a deal, it will have to set its own independent trade policy for the first time in a generation. How would it mitigate the trade frictions it will face outside the bloc?

Brexit supporters have a beguiling answer: eliminate all tariffs unilaterally. Some, including a former Australian prime minister, even suggest this could make leaving the European Union a net positive for the U.K. economy. Expect to hear a lot more of these arguments if Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal is rejected next week.