Weknowthatthere's goingtobesomeargumentsaboutthepreconditionsthatyouisgoingtoplaceon a freetradeagreementonnegotiatingfreetradingroomwiththeUKSothesethecontroversialissuesaroundtheUKremainingalignedonstateaidandalsocommittingnottorollbackonyoulaborandenvironmentalprotection.
So I thinkthisfirsthalfoftheyearwe'regoingtoget a lotofchestbeating.
I don't actuallyexpectsubstantivenegotiationstoehappenuntiltheorder.
There's a funnyoldcontradictioninthemiddleofallofthat, isn't itthatEuropesaysyoucanonlywalkthroughthedoortowards a barebonesfreetradeagreementifyoupromisenottomassivelyexpandthestatementstatefundingortoderegulateitintheotherdirection?
Butthat's, I think, becauseyouismorethanjust a market, it's, youknow, ifyouwanttothinkofitdifferently, it's a regulatorysuperpower.
Mytakeonthisisifyoulookatthehistoryofthenegotiations, istheYouwillmove a bitin.
TheUKwillhavetomove a lotifsomethingisgoingtobeagreed, I meanandalsowhenyouread a lotofpresscoveragehereintheUK, it's like, Oh, youknowthatyouaren't takingtheprimeminister's claimseriously.
Butofcoursethelotofitistheoutcomeofnegotiationswillbe a compromise.
Whogivesinmoreway?
We'llsee.
But I thinkatthestartofanynegotiation, you'regoingto, youknow, put a positionthatyouthatyouthinkmightbeyouryourharsheststones, knowingprobablythatyou'renotgoingtoenduptheresothat I thinktherealdifficultyforanyBrexitwatcheroverthecomingmonthsisgoingtobeWho's sayingwhat?
Ifyou'reoutsideofthe U, theycannolongerassumetheyare.
Theymatch.
Theymeetthecriteriafor a newproductstandards, sotheywillcheckthemonthewayin.
That's thedefault.
We'releavingtheEUsinglemarket.
We'releaving.
Thecustomsunionwillhave a freetradeagreement.
They'regoingtobechecksonourproductsgoingintoyou.
Whatyouareworriedaboutourthatwe're, isthatwe'regoingtocreate a supercompetitiveenvironmentenvironmentforbusinessesbyderegulatingbyproppingthemupwithloadsofmoneyandthenmakingthat a preconditionoftariffandquotafreeaccesstoyouononeofthediscussionsthatweregoingtohave.
Now, I think, iswhetherthatpreconditionis a preconditionfortheentiretradingrelationshiporjustfortariffunquotefreetrade.
Becauseifit's justforTarafromquotafreetrade, thereis a scenariowherebyJohnsonandsay, Well, I'm notsigninguptothisandinreturnwewillacceptthatoncertaincertainproductstherewillbetariffs.
So, forexample, inagriculture, andwehaven't talkedaboutaccesstofishingwatersyet.
There's nothingsayingthatithastobetheUKtoextendthat, youknow, askedtoextendthetransition, youcouldpotentially I mean, I youknow, I thinkit's unlikelyatthispoint, butwhoknows?
Andhowmuchon a slidingscaleofpainwiththeyoubewillingtodelayproductsoftheborderevenlongerifweweren't playingbytheirrulesortheyjustgenerallyweren't happywith.
I thinkthethingtounderstandisthatoncetheUKhastheflexibilitytochangeitsproductstandardstodiverge, theyouwilltreatusasifwealreadyhave.
Therateofphysicalinspectioncouldbe 50% orabove, althoughthereisprecedentforthe U reducingthatrateofphysicalinspectionviaagreementthatyouhavedone a greenwithNewZealandthatdoesthat.
I thinkifyoutalktomeinpractice, theywillacknowledge, actually, in a lotofareaswechoosenotto, butin a waythatdoesn't matter, becauseonceyou'vegainedtheflexibilitytodiverge, you'regoingtofeelthepainofdivergence.
That's becausethere's a sensethatthey'vebeenmarchedupanddownsomanytimes.
Thatparticularthenodeal, butthatnotradedealoutcomeisstill a possibility.
Soareyouis a businessonparticularlysmall, youknow?
Small.
Exactly.
Doyoupreparefornotree?
D'oh!
Doyouprepareforsomekindofdeal?
Basically, what's thatbasicdealcover?
Sotherearelotsofquestionsand I thinkthatpressurefrombusiness I seemwillcometoaskyouaboutthat.
Yeah.
I mean, I havebeanrelativelysilentinthiswholedebatebusiness.
Arewegoingtohear a raworarewegoingthioduringtheactualtradenegotiations, orarewejustgoingtohearquietlyhasbeendifficultforbigdeployment, sincetheyjustsortofsendtheirbusinesselsewhere.
So I wonderifonceBrexitisdeliveredattheendofthemonth, ifitbecomes a biteasierforthemtostarttalkingaboutthefuturerelationshipandsay, well, thisisn't aboutBrexitBrexit's happened.
ThisisThisisaboutthefuture, but I wonderif I'm notsurehowmuchthey'regoingtocutthrough.
Andthequestionyouaskedisifwedohavethisfreetradeagreementinplacebytheendoftheyearandnegotiate, and I thinkthat's possible, I mean, theycan't thinkthatthat's possible.
BellsandwhistlesNo, I thinkifwe'retalkingaboutthebroader U.
U K Partnership, it's notgoingtoallbedonebytheendoftheyearbecausethere's lotsofareasofcooperation.
Becauseeverytimeyouphasein a newlevelofdisruption, you'regoingtoannoysomeone.
Yougotohertoes.
ThereisjustthequestionaboutDoyouwanttodoitgradually, ordoyoujustrippedtheplasteroffovernightonWhenyoulook a lotoftradeassociations, youtradeassociations.
Ourpositionistheoutcomeof a lengthytalksamongstnotonly 27 governmentsbuteveryoneelse.
Andthere's notmuchthatwecando.
Doit.
T Budgeonthisonbecausetherearesomanypeoplewhoneedtogivetheirconsent, itwillmeanthatthey'resortofpowerful.
Memoriesfromthenewverbal B willbesmall.
Butonepoint I wouldmake, though, is I thinkeveryonelikestolookforprecedent.
Soandwhenwhenwesay, Howlongdoesittaketonegotiate a tradeagreement?
Peoplehavetostaywithyou.
CanadaAgreementIttooksevenyearsfromfromwhenitbegantocompletion, and I'm justnotsurehowyouhelpfulthatisinthisinthiscontext, becauseit's a vastlydifferentscenario.
Thepoint I'd makeisthereasontradenegotiationsoftentake a longtime.
It's not.
There's nottechnicalreasonsIt's notbecauseittakessolongtowritethatofthose 1400 pagesoftextthattakes a while, butactually, quite a lotofboilerplateiscopiedandpastedfromelsewhere.
Thereasontheytake a longtimeisit's bothpartiesthattonegotiatingpartnersarewaitingfor a politicallyopportunemomenttomaketheconsentdomesticconcessionsnecessarytogetthatagreementoverthelines.
Andthenthe U inCanadasay, Look, we'regonnadothisagreementasevidenceofourcommitmenttotherulesbasedsystemandbeinggood, goodguys, that's whatThat's why I gotsignedintheend.
Butinthiscase, wehave a firmdeadline.
We'vegottogetitdonein a year, orelsethat's theirconsequences.
Whatdoesitlooklike?
Thegovernment's plan?
ItItlooksliketheyintendtotrytostartsomething, maybeevenbeforeevenacrossthechannelacrosstheAtlantic, inordertomake a pointthatwerebigplayersherewe'vegototherfishtofind.
So I don't thinktheyknowyet.
Actually, whattheywanttodowiththe U.
S.
Theyknowtheyneedtostartnegotiatingwiththem.
And I would I would I wouldadvisebeginningnegotiatingstraightawaywithDonaldTrumpbecausehe's a pieceofit.
Clearlyhasanobjective, whichistosign a comprehensivetradeagreementwiththe U.
K.
ButthatcomprehensivetradeagreementrequirestheUKtodivergefromcertainyouapproaches, whichmeansthatwecan't remainalignedinareassuchasfoodstandardswiththewiththe U.
Sothey'retryingtoprovokethatin a way.
ButfortheUK, dowereallywanttohappenthisyear?
I don't thinkweknowyet.
Wehaven't haveobjectivespublishedofthe U.
S.
A.
U S.
U K negotiation.
What I thinkwillhappenisthatwedon't have a biglaunchevent.
Sciencestarted.
WestartedthetalkswiththeUSitwillbelots.
There'llbelotsoffireworkdrumrollfounddrumrollsthatthiswillexcitequite a lotofpeoplethatwill.
TheBrexitsupportersyou'vealwayswantedThiswillgo.
Yes.
Andthenwhat I thinkwillhappeniswe'regoingtotryandfindsomethingsmallrelatedtotradetonegotiatewithDonaldTrump.
Quicklylimiteddefinedagreement.
Wewill, Wewilltry.
Soforittogive a completelyhypotheticalexamplewewillsupport, wewillscrapthedigitalserviceistaxinreturnforthe U.
S.
ExcludingusfromtheBoeingAirbusretaliationswimmersthatsimmersthatbecausethenitcouldjustbe a phaseonereadyfortheNovemberelections.
ForTrump's Trumpcansay, Go, godown a tradeagreementwiththeUKwithJapanwithdon't needCongress's competencedeal.
AndthenontheJohnsoninside, itsaidhecansay, Look, we'vedonethefirstbitof a tradeagreementandnowwe'lltakeourtimetonegotiatetherest.
Andin a way, I thinkthatprobablysuitsbothparties.
Don't saywhy.
No, I mean, what's thenewcaseratingtoleavetheyouknow, hasvotedtoleave.
Butthereisalsoscopethereforpoliticallyandthatthepoliticalleveltosend a strongsignalofcommitment.
Andit's notonlyaboutworkingwithyouworkingwiththe U.
N internationalorganizationsiscomplicated.
Ifyournegotiationsaregoingverywell.
Sowhoareyougettingteabeworkingwithatthatpoint?
And I thinkthisiswheretheUKgovernmenthasanopportunity, actually, istoreallythinktheircountriesaroundtheworldlookingtotheUK, sothinking, whatroledoyouwanttoplayon?
Andyes, wehave a commitmentupholdingtheinternationalorder.
Butwe'renotjustgoingtowalkintothe W T.
O ondayoneandsay, Guys, we'rebackandwe'regonnafixit.
Won't doanythingthatwon't haveanyuse.
Peoplegetannoyed, butthey'rethings.
They'repositivethingswecando.
Wecanhelpbuildcoalitions.
Wecanactpositivelyintermsofaddingresourceintermsoftime, money, peopletothedifferentsortofboringthingsthatgoonintheinternationalsortofmultilateralsystemwithinthe W t o aroundjustlookingatdifferentregulationsandcheckingiftheymatchup.
Soit's gonnabe a partnershipagreementthathastradeis a componentpart, butlotsofotherthings, andovertimethiswillchangeandthey'llbestructurestoallowforittochange.
Therelationshipwiththe U Differently, theymightwanttorenegotiatewithit.
Thisisgoingtobe a constantprocess, andthat's okay.
Andifyou'reguessingnowlookinginthatdigitalcrystalball 20 yearsfromnow, we'rein a sortoffuturethatwasclosetothethedealthatTheresaMaywastalkingaboutattheend, whereyoureallyarehuggingtheyearinstitutionsquiteclose.
You'resomewhere a halfwayacrosstheAtlantic, and I thinkitreallyweoftenforgetthattheUKischanging, fortheIVischangingalso, so a lotofthisdependsonwherethe U isgoingonwhatitbecomes.
Andwhathappenstouserelationshipwiththe U K, butalsowhathappenstothetotheyouandweknowthatyouputtingon a conferencethisyearwherethey'regoingtobetryingThiosortofset a strategicvisionfortheyouoverthenext 10 15 20 years.