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Comment by wrong_variable | Hacker News Reader

Could you provide some examples of countries striking better trade deals.

Its also two things negotiators and knowing your strengths.

The world's best negotiators wont be able help you very much if you do not have much to offer.

Also I am skeptical of your assertion that anyone could write trade deals. It requires a very deep understanding of economics, international finance, geopolitics and a bunch of other topics - I would say being able to be a good trade negotiator is a lot more difficult than being a programmer and has far more profound consequences.

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Chile is a good example. More deals, better (more often including services) and earlier.

Like I said, I've read trade deals. One I actually read almost from start to finish (the recent WTO deal on upgrading customs rules, I forgot the specific name).

If Chile can sign trade deals with much bigger economic powers, much more quickly than the EU can, I see no reason why the UK would be unable to. Can you justify your assertion that trade negotiation is much harder than programming, or is that just a feeling?

What do you think is better about Chile's trade deals compared to, say, the UK's access to the common market? The UK's trade deal with the EU was surely more powerful than Chile's relationship to the US.

Signing deals fast is easy. Signing deals that cover everything is easy. It's useless to talk about this without analysing what actual benefits they get out of them.

Chile, Switzerland and Iceland all have free trade agreements with China. The EU doesn't.

What was the combined value of their trade into China in 2015?

It's not in the EU's interest to have a free trade agreement with China; the US doesn't have one either.

China pursues a mercantilist strategy in many respects. Take steel, for example: unrestricted trade with China would wreak havoc on Germany's steel industry, with potential knock-on effects further along the value chain - and there's no guarantee that China would keep steel prices low after predatory pricing.

Are you saying "any trade deal is better than no trade deal?". Just because the EU doesn't have one with China doesn't mean Switzerland's deal is better.... than a deal that doesn't exist.

No, I was just giving some examples. If you follow your logic the UK needn't worry about not having a trade deal with the EU.

> If you follow your logic the UK needn't worry about not having a trade deal with the EU.

No, that does not follow.

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