US President Donald Trump's plan to create a free trade zone with Ukraine threatens Kyiv's bid to join the EU. This was stated by the UK's former chief trade negotiator Crawford Falconer, writes The Telegraph.
According to him, the US President's initiative could seriously complicate Ukraine's efforts, since EU regulations do not allow member states to enter into their own trade agreements with third countries.
A free trade agreement following a possible peace deal with Russia could significantly accelerate Ukraine's post-war recovery by creating strong incentives for companies to build factories in the region and export products to the United States at reduced costs. However, Faulconer said such a plan would likely dash Ukraine's hopes of EU membership.
This is due to the fact that all countries are required to transfer control of foreign trade to the European Commission, the document notes.
“If Ukraine becomes a member of the EU, this will obviously create problems in concluding a free trade agreement with the United States, since the EU has a common external tariff that the European Commission itself sets. The only way this can be 100% successful is if the EU itself negotiates a free trade agreement with the US separately. However, in my opinion, this seems unlikely,” said the expert.
Ukraine is close to a humanitarian disaster because of the energy situation
According to Ukrainian media, the free trade zone involves the abolition of customs duties, taxes and quantitative restrictions in mutual trade between countries participating in the agreement on the basis of international treaties.
