SUMMARY |
In March 2020 the UK Government introduced the Trade Bill in order to manage UK trade policy after the Brexit transition period ended. The bill includes provisions on the implementation of international trading agreements, and establishes the Trade Remedies Authority among other provisions. Following the Third Reading in the house of Lords, a number of amendments were suggested, two of which focused on the conduct of trade with nations accused of human rights violations. In the most recent House of Commons Ping Pong, these amendments were narrowly rejected and the Bill has now returned to the Lords.
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As Britain launches its global agenda as an independent nation, the UK is planning trade agreements with major trading partners around the world. In March 2020, the Trade Bill was introduced, in order to establish new regulations for organising trade deals in a post-Brexit world. On December 7th, the House of Lords proposed four amendments to the Bill, two of which (amendments 2 & 3) are related to human rights:
Amendment Two:
‘Free trade agreements: determination on compliance with international obligations and state actions’
Amendment Three:
‘Agreements with states accused of committing genocide’
‘Free trade agreements: determination on compliance with international obligations and state actions’
Amendment Three:
‘Agreements with states accused of committing genocide’
These amendments would prevent the UK from entering into a trade agreement with states that have conducted ‘serious violations’ of human rights, in particular focused on
- the right to life
- the right not to be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- the right to be free from slavery and not held in servitude
Arguably these amendments are aimed at China, where the happenings in Xinjiang in particular, are of concern to the UK government, but the question remains about what this could mean for the UK trading with other partners across the world.
Unfortunately, human rights abuses are commonplace, and they exist in every nation in the world – albeit to different extents. So how would such amendments be implemented and where would the line be drawn?
How would ‘serious violations’ be defined? The amendment does not attempt to classify what a serious breach of human rights is. Is there such a thing as a mild human rights breach? At what point would a violations of rights invoke this amendment?
Would our allies be excused from the same scrutiny because they are our allies? It is not difficult to write a list of violations of the right to life, to not be subject to cruel or degrading treatment and to be free from servitude in Western nations like the US, Australia, EU etc.
Is it based on prevalence or extent of abuses? The prevalence of slavery in China for example, is one of the lowest in Asia (GSI, 2018a) and is lower than in the Gulf States (GSI,2018b) – who we do $57.2bn of trade with annually (Cochrane, 2020).
Are certain human rights deemed to be more important than others when measuring violation for a trade agreement? Is the abuse of the Uyghurs in China more important than the abuse of black rights or Aboriginal rights in the US and Australia?
Below, we examined three of the UK’s trading partners – Australia, India and the United States – to identify the human rights abuses committed in these countries, and ask if a trade agreement would be possible under the proposed amendments.
The amendments were narrowly rejected during the most recent Ping Pong in the House of Commons on January 19th - amendment 2 by 364 votes to 267 and amendment 3 by 319 votes to 308, with the next Lords Ping Pong scheduled for early February, it remains to be seen what the future of the trade bill will hold.
- Australia
- India
- United States of America
The amendments were narrowly rejected during the most recent Ping Pong in the House of Commons on January 19th - amendment 2 by 364 votes to 267 and amendment 3 by 319 votes to 308, with the next Lords Ping Pong scheduled for early February, it remains to be seen what the future of the trade bill will hold.
References
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Author
ALEXANDRA CRAGGS, RESEARCHER, THE DECISION PROBLEM