Monday, August 5, 2019

British trade secretary plans to create 'free ports'

Liz Truss's plan for tax-free zones condemned by Labour - Rowena Mason, The Guardian - Yahoo News:

August 1, 2019 - "Liz Truss, the new trade secretary, will promise to create up to 10 new tax-free zones at ports and airports in a move condemned by Labour as setting up tax havens and money-laundering opportunities along Britain’s coasts. The cabinet minister, a free marketeer whose political hero is former chancellor Nigel Lawson, said the plan for so-called 'free ports' could revitalise transport and trade hubs like Margaret Thatcher did for the London Docklands in the 1980s.

"Boris Johnson championed free ports when he took office last week, but the Singapore-style tax-free zones are controversial and have been identified by the EU as a money-laundering risk.

"Under the plans, ports including Teesport, Milford Haven, Port of Tyne and London Gateway could become standalone economic zones, considered independent for customs purposes, that charge no taxes or tariffs on imports....

"Those advising Truss on a new free port panel will include Eamonn Butler, the director of the rightwing, libertarian Adam Smith Institute, and Tom Clougherty, the head of tax at the Thatcherite thinktank the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS). Emma Jones, who runs a small business network, and Daniel Korski, a former adviser to David Cameron will also be on the panel....

"Speaking on a visit to Teesside, Truss will say: 'Freedoms transformed London’s Docklands in the 1980s, and free ports will do the same for towns and cities across the UK. They will onshore enterprise and manufacturing as the gateway to our future prosperity, creating thousands of jobs..... We will have a truly independent trade policy after we leave the EU on 31 October. I look forward to working with the free ports advisory panel to create the world’s most advanced free port model and launch the new ports as soon as possible.'

"The Department for International Trade described free ports as hubs for business and enterprise that 'could be free of unnecessary checks and paperwork, and include customs and tax benefits'.... The department pointed to 250 free trade zones in the US where 420,000 people are employed."

Read more: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/liz-truss-apos-plan-tax-213003792.html
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