Brexit provides a new trade opportunity for Britain: the creation of Free Ports.
EU law has long held back the potential of British ports. In The Free Ports Opportunity (a new report published by the Centre for Policy Studies on Monday 14 November), Rishi Sunak MP shows how Brexit would bring an end to this, allowing the introduction of Free Ports across the nation.
Already successful in the USA, Free Ports would provide a fast response to Brexit that would increase manufacturing output, reinvigorate the North, and promote trade.
Free Ports are areas that, although inside the geographic boundary of a country, are considered outside the country for customs purposes. This means that goods can enter and re-exit the port without incurring usual import procedures or tariffs – incentivising domestic manufacturing.
Rishi Sunak MP comments:
“Upon leaving the EU, Britain will find itself with more opportunities for economic innovation than at any time in almost 50 years. As the date of our departure draws closer, it will be the responsibility of Government to ensure Britain is not timid in seizing those opportunities.
Foreign Trade Zones are flourishing all around the world – except in the EU. Post-Brexit they could play an important role in signalling Britain’s openness to the world, as well as reconnecting the nation with its proud maritime history.”
James Cooper, Chief Executive, Associated British Ports (the UK’s largest port owner) comments:
“Ports are key to the nation’s trade and many offer ideal locations for new manufacturing. They should be front and centre of an industrial strategy to boost exports and re-balance the economy.”
“This report is an example of the creative and ambitious thinking that should underpin such a strategy, maximising the potential of our ports to promote export-led growth and helping forge a prosperous future post-Brexit.”
Click here to read the full report.
Media Impact
When it comes to seeking advice about Britain's economic feature after Brexit, it’s probably fair to say that Greece wouldn’t be most people’s first call.
THERESA MAY has been urged to create “free ports” across Brexit Britain in a bid to create nearly 90,000 jobs and boost trade links with the rest of the world.
In a Centre for Policy Studies report, The Free Ports Opportunity, Richmond MP Rishi Sunak argues Britain’s membership of the EU has held back growth and that the creation of “free ports” would be a huge opportunity for trade.
BRITAIN'S prosperity after leaving the European Union will depend to a degree on innovative thinking, and the proposal to create free ports is one such idea worthy of serious attention.
Britain could create 86,000 jobs, reinvigorate manufacturing and navigate the choppy waters of Brexit better if it operated a system of US-style “free ports”, a study suggests
The research, by the Centre for Policy Studies and MP Rishi Sunak, argues that EU law has held back the potential of UK sea trade. It says getting rid of these laws would allow the Government to create 'free ports'.
The potential of British ports could be unleashed in the aftermath of Brexit, if the UK quits the EU customs union, according to a new report.
To counter the trade shock following Brexit, Tory MP Rishi Sunak and Associated British Ports, the UK’s largest port operator, called for free foreign trade zones to stimulate trade once the UK is not constrained by the Customs Union and EU state aid laws.
The concept of Free Ports is thousands of years old (with Delos in Ancient Greece having originally pioneered the concept). Today they prosper all around the world.
In a paper by the Centre for Policy studies, Conservative MP Rishi Sunak writes that Britain could boost trade by adopting a policy of creating free ports.
Britain’s exit from the European Union could open up increased trade for the nation’s ports and create
jobs, according to a new report. The research, by the Centre for Policy Studies and MP Rishi Sunak, argues that EU law has held back
BREXIT gives Britain the opportunity of a massive expansion of manufacturing
Free Ports would fill the sails of the post-Brexit economy https://t.co/UxxfWZXJ78 via @telegraphnews
— Michael Gove (@michaelgove) November 14, 2016
WATCH: Rishi Sunak's great response to @ChukaUmunna , where he explains how British free trade could benefit from Brexit. @Daily_politics pic.twitter.com/jkNbNNfzto
— LEAVE.EU (@LeaveEUOfficial) November 14, 2016
Interesting piece by Rishi Sunak MP Free Ports would fill the sails of the post-Brexit economy https://t.co/ZWfTZ0ICyH via @telegraphnews
— Gerard Lyons (@DrGerardLyons) November 14, 2016
FULL DEBATE: Talking UK trade after Brexit with Rishi Sunak @ChukaUmunna @YvetteCooperMP @DamianCollins #bbcdp https://t.co/KEFobBrT9Q
— DailySunday Politics (@daily_politics) November 14, 2016
Great work from Rishi Sunak MP which could create tens of thousands of good jobs as we leave the EU https://t.co/y2l4T43mXn
— Steve Baker MP (@SteveBakerHW) November 14, 2016
Great innovative thinking from the superbly talented Rishi Sunak https://t.co/rojl0lxXN8
— Michael Gove (@michaelgove) November 14, 2016