China wanted an assurance from the European Union it will devise a strategy to carry out an "appropriate compensation" for countries of which trade will suffer should a no deal Brexit happens.
China's sentiment was revealed in a document submitted to the World Trade Organization which was first reported by Bloomberg. Among WTO members who shared China's position were Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States, Uruguay.
The most common concern shared among these countries was dissatisfaction regarding EU's plan to split its joint WTO tariff rate quota, a trade obligation it shared with the United Kingdom. According to China and the other countries, Brexit will definitely create a new normal with regard to EU-UK trade commitment to the WTO but the union has yet to present plans on how it will conduct trade independent of Britain.
With a split tariff rate quota between the EU and the United Kingdom, all trades involving beef, lamb, sugar will be limited, and worse delayed. More so, the EU could limit the trade access which was previously granted to WTO member countries. This situation may impact trade volume at a worldwide level, according to China and the 12 other countries.
This sentiment will intensify now that Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed that she already agreed on a draft Brexit agreement with the EU this week, according to government insiders who spoke with BBC anonymously.
There has been no sufficient information that has come out regarding the draft Brexit agreement but BBC is reporting that the document is 500 pages long and essentially discusses how relations between Britain and the EU will change as soon as Brexit takes effect probably on March 2019.
The draft also included provisions guaranteeing that no physical border checks will be reintroduced in Northern Ireland - something which strong Brexit supporters opposed as it will indicate that the United Kingdom remains obliged to follow EU trade regulations to avoid border conflict.
The drafts also included sections overseeing citizens' rights after Brexit, the mechanics to be played during the proposed 21-month transition period, and sections detailing the "divorce bill."
The draft text, however, does not discuss what will happen to UK-EU long-term trade arrangements, according to sources who spoke with BBC.
Prime Minister May reportedly scheduled a cabinet meeting on Nov. 13 at 2 pm U.K. time. She will be presenting the draft Brexit deal to her cabinet in the hopes of gaining their support, the sources said. If all members agreed, a deal could be struck by November or December. If the draft deal is unapproved, then there could be another long-winding period of negotiations.
