"Adrian" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 18 Feb 2015 08:01:18 +1100, john james wrote:

It is not up to Britain to negotiate trade deals with the rest of
the world. That is what the EU does.

And the exact same trade deals apply to the UK - which is apparently
failing to export - as to Germany - which is exporting
hand-over-fist.

That isn't because of trade deals, it's because the collapse in the
euro has made German cars very attractively priced outside the
eurozone.

Not just the motor industry,

True, but that does dominate the recent export success.

Not really.

Fraid so, particularly with the exports out of the eurozone
that have benefitted from the slump in the value of the euro.

There are a lot of industries which Germany does very well in.
Road vehicles are 18% of German exports by value, US$250bn in 2013.

What matters with regard to what is being discussed
is exports outside the eurozone, not exports in general.

And, yes, that's ten times the UK's vehicle exports - not to mention
that UK vehicle manufacturing is mainly foreign-owned plants, and
so liable to move to wherever international trading conditions best
suit, rather than UK-owned.

and not just recently.

For different reasons, much better designs and decent quality control.

So, back to the original assertion that it's all the EU's fault that the
UK can't export, and as soon as we leave, we will...?

I didn't commented on that, just pointed out that some
exports, particularly by small exporters, would be easier
if Britain was outside the EU because then the exporters
would not have to bother with the EU requirements on
charging the VAT due in the country it is exported to
with intangible stuff as opposed to tangible goods.