Prime Minister May says that she has reached an agreement with the European Union.
The agreement is 585 pages long. Every time politicians vote to implement a 600-page document that was written by high-level bureaucrats, the liberties of the citizens of that nation decline. The devil is in the details, and there are a lot of details for the devil to get into.
She got it through her cabinet. Now she has to get it through Parliament, which is going to be a challenge. The pro-Brexit people hate conciliation, and the Remainers don’t want to agree to anything remotely like Brexit.
She was never a big fan of Brexit. She is going along with the whole thing grudgingly. She has stalled an agreement for almost 2 years.
If Parliament won’t vote for her agreement, then Britain will depart from the EU on March 29. It’s automatic.
I have a solution. Parliament does not have to accept any agreement. No agreement is necessary.
Here is my Brexit solution. Parliament votes for this law.
Her Majesty’s government adopts a policy of zero tariffs and zero import quotas, beginning tomorrow.
That’s it? That’s it!
There would be no negotiations with foreign countries. There would be nothing to negotiate.
If exporters located in EU countries want to sell something to the Brits, good for them. If there are Brits who like the products and accept them, good for them.
Tariffs are simply sales taxes on imported goods. Anytime a government cuts taxes, that is positive.
Revenues to the government would fall. This is also good.
Import quotas don’t generate any revenues. There shouldn’t be any import quotas.
Would trade go up between buyers in Great Britain and sellers in the European Union? You bet it would. Everybody likes to be able to sell at a discount, and, overnight, exporters to Great Britain would find that their goods now sell at a discount. No sales taxes are tacked onto the goods.
Would this be good for British buyers? Of course. Who wants to pay sales taxes?
Would financial companies leave Great Britain? No. Why should they? All of a sudden, the whole world would want to sell goods to residents of Great Britain. The doors would be open wide. If it’s good for trade, it’s good for finance.
If Great Britain did this, its economy would not sink. Other countries in the European Union would figure out that the benefits of staying inside the EU don’t compensate for the liabilities associated with the surrender of national sovereignty. Anyway, a substantial minority of voters in those countries would figure this out. All it would take would be a policy of zero tariffs. In other words, all it would take would be a reduction of taxes. “We’re outta here!”
No nation needs to sign a 500-page agreement in order to leave the EU profitably. It simply leaves the EU, abolishes tariffs and quotas, and starts trading.
Come one, come all! Let’s make a deal!
This article originally appeared here at GaryNorth.com.
