THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPORTS

The repeal of the Corn Laws is seen as a key moment in the movement towards free trade, and (because of opposition to the landowning interests) in the movement towards popular democracy. [...] These figures partly reflect the impact of Covid on global trade, but the falls both in exports to the EU and in imports from the EU were much larger than those for trade with the rest of the world. [...] In contrast, UK imports from the EU have remained relatively depressed, to the extent that the UK is now importing more from the rest of the world. [...] Should I refuse to take my family holiday in Spain unless an equal number of Spaniards agree to take a summer break in the Surrey hills? The new barriers to trade between the UK and the EU may well result in a reduction in imports from the EU and an increase in domestic production, and this will mitigate some of the costs. [...] The UK’s membership of the EU will, in the past, have diverted trade away from the rest of the world: barriers to imports from the US or the Commonwealth will have artificially raised the price of US or Commonwealth goods and services relative to those produced by Germany, France and Spain.