Breaking down borders ? ....

[Davy51]

As we have seen on the news PSA the parent company of Bedford/Vauxhall  are keeping the Luton factory open post Brexit with hopes for Ellesmere Port too. I don't know how matters would work out but would keeping a foothold in Britain give PSA  a corridor to trade with the wider world  via its UK operations & without the constraints of EU  rules ? A Brexit dividend perhaps ?

[observer]

At the end of the day, it's all about costs and the market. In a totally "free market" without tariffs, China or other poorly paid workforces would win hands down. Presumably that's why the EU pursues protectionist policies, in essence, a glorified protection racket. Likewise, Trump has noticed an imbalance of trade with China and others, hence his embarkation on a trade war. At the end of the day, the purpose and point of the State is to protect it's own interests and it's own people.   The problem is of course, that it's often "the people" who let themselves down, as did the UK in the 60s buying cheap Japanese goods, then witnessing the resulting job losses in the UK. The Germans tend to buck this trend by staying loyal to their own products, thus they retain a trade surplus.    

[asperity]

The problem in the 60s & 70s was that the "cheap Japanese goods" were of better quality than the British made rubbish that the likes of British Leyland (occasionally, when the unions allowed it) churned out.

[observer]

We can argue over the quality, but the real reason was price; and it still goes on,  the Ladies will be race down to certain clothing stores to buy stuff produced by some young girls in India on a few Rupees a day, that's the top and bottom of it.   Of course, it could be argued that international capitalism and global trade are actually acting in coincidental manner to balance wealth globally, by giving jobs and income to poor countries;   but the consequence is that the rich countries suffer as a result.  It is argued that the rich countries should adjust their economies to produce "high end" products, which implies a requirement for high levels of education and training, the provision of which is questionable.  But the issue comes down to the balance of trade at the end of the day, and dependency or otherwise on imports and impact on jobs.   

[asperity]

Well it seems we have so many jobs available in this country that we have to import thousands of immigrants from the third world to fill them. Or is somebody being less than candid?

[observer]

Perhaps our indigenous youngsters are being trained in the high end technologies of the future or thanks to the benefits system, just can't get out of bed for menial employment ?  

[Davy51]

Don't just blame the cheaper clothing stores for using Asian made products. They are all at it since retailers found it cheaper to buy its clothes from India than the mills of Lancashire. Unfortunately, labour costs in Asia have played a major part in undercutting most of our home produced  consumer goods.

 

Anyway, my original question was "would keeping a foothold in the UK help PSA to trade easier with countries outside the EU post Brexit ?"

[Confused52]

According to the DWP the 18-14 age range has 84227 males and 54118 females receiving Jobseekers allowance or out of work Universal Credit, so a total of 138345, which drops to 44092 by the 39-44 age range. So nearly 20000 per year in the lower age range and only 9000 per year in the higher age range. In 2017 the DWP issued National Insurance Numbers to 121437 males and 119940 females aged between 18 and 24, annualised and approximated that is 34500 per year of age total in the 18-24 band compared t0 20000 drawing unemployment benefit.

Forget the lies, damned lies and statistics line because this data is counts, both of claimants and new NINo issues. The 18-24 range includes those with first degrees as well as school leavers. So what can you deduce? I can't see the menial employment line standing up given that they get employment later. To me it look more like education leaves them not equipped for work and it takes time. Meanwhile a ready supply is there and competing. The evidence is that they do find jobs though, in the end.

[Confused52]

16 hours ago, Davy51 said:

Don't just blame the cheaper clothing stores for using Asian made products. They are all at it since retailers found it cheaper to buy its clothes from India than the mills of Lancashire. Unfortunately, labour costs in Asia have played a major part in undercutting most of our home produced  consumer goods.

 

Anyway, my original question was "would keeping a foothold in the UK help PSA to trade easier with countries outside the EU post Brexit ?"

Well it could given that the car market is controlled by International UN defined standards rather than just EU, but only if third countries set lower tariffs against our goods than those from the EU. However the balancing of component supplies mean that there would probably be a problem if cars were sold at a different rate to third countries and more significantly in terms of component supplies from other countries as we are looking for a zero tariff on car parts from the EU (as well as a zero tariff for import of our manufactured parts into the EU) to support the supply chain for manufacture and assembly both here and in the EU. My reading of the event is that the French government, who I believe have shares in PSA, have another reason not to block tariff free trade with the UK after Brexit.

Edited April 6, 2018 by Confused52
Edited for clarity, following helpful response from ASP

[asperity]

If the UK needs tariff free imports of car parts from the EU then it's in the UK's interest to set such tariffs at zero (it's the importing country that sets the tariffs). The same goes for any imports.