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Emeritus Prof Christopher May (chrismayla6@zirk.us)'s status on Saturday, 10-May-2025 17:55:13 JST Emeritus Prof Christopher May

One insidious aspect of the US/UK framework deal for trade negotiations is the issue of standards... it looks like (willingly?) the UK is considering a shift to de-allign standards (even if they are not diluted) various aspects of standards setting from European models & towards US standards setting.
If so, whatever Starmer says about not choosing between the US & EU, this would likely make any 'reset' in UK-EU relations harder, and less far reaching!
#economics #standards #politics
h/t FT
In conversation about 22 days ago from zirk.us permalink
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1. Setting standards Trade experts also noted the agreement raised the issue of whether the UK would recognise US industry standards-setting bodies as international standards bodies — a long-standing ask of American trade negotiators. Currently, the UK is also part of a 34-country European regional grouping that mirrors the international system of standards-making based around World Trade Organization definitions, while the US system is more commercially driven. International rules cover a vast range of products and services and how business is conducted, according to Scott Steedman, director-general of standards of the British Standards Institution. He said the US request risked “muddying the waters” around the UK’s commitment to the international governance structures of standards. Peter Holmes, fellow of the UK Trade Policy Observatory at Sussex university, added that while the deal did not commit the UK to lowering standards, it risked the UK diverging from its current position in Europe, making the impending EU-UK “reset” harder. “The UK has to be very careful of actually negotiating an agreement that might weaken consumer protection, or which causes us to diverge from the EU position on standards and regulations,” he said.
  https://cdn.masto.host/zirkus/media_attachments/files/114/482/570/536/180/404/original/919dcca3d54d78f7.png

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