[LINK] "U.K. trade could face cold reception from former colonies such as Canada"

[rfmcdonald]

The Globe and Mail carries Wayne Cole's Reuters article noting that, contra Brexit proponents in the United Kingdom, there really is little to no interest in the wider Commonwealth in renewed close trade relations. If anything, Britain inside the European Union is a more valuable trading partner.

Britain’s entry into the Common Market in 1973 was widely considered a betrayal at the time, upending decades of tradition and a host of tariff agreements. Australia was especially hard hit and resentment still lingers.

“The 1970s were a bloodbath for the dairy industry,” said Stephen Henty, a dairy farmer in the Australian state of Victoria. “There was no market for calves, so we were forced to shoot calves and bury them because they weren’t worth anything.”

But that was then.

“We were pretty much tied to the U.K.’s apron strings and when they pulled the pin, we suffered,” he added. “We have a lot more markets where our products are sold into now. The U.K. leaving the EU wouldn’t have any impact this time.”

Just a glance at trade flows speaks volumes. Britain takes only 2.5 per cent of Australia’s exports, China more than 31 per cent. Around 5 per cent of New Zealand’s exports go to Britain, while Canada sends less than 3 per cent of its export there.

The detachment goes both ways, with Canada 19th on the table of export destinations for Britain and Australia a rung behind.

That might mean there is room for growth, but it is not clear what they would trade in. Australia’s biggest single export is iron ore, but Britain has no steel industry.