John Alty
@johnalty1.bsky.social
Ex - UK Civil servant; now at LSE; Trustee Director at Chartered Institute of Export; Competition Appeals Tribunal; NED at Trade Remedies Authority; adviser to Pagefield. Mostly trade and competition. And Liverpool FC.
Pinned
John Alty
@johnalty1.bsky.social
· Jan 14
Five trade trends to watch out for in 2026 - Pagefield
After one of the most disruptive years ever for trade in 2025, what are the things we should watch out for which will indicate the direction of travel in 2026? The impact of the mid terms on US trade ...
www.pagefield.co.uk
What should businesses be looking our for on international trade in 2026 ? My thoughts on the US, UK/EU, China and the competing dynamics of fragmentation and alliance building, for Pagefield:
www.pagefield.co.uk/news-insight...
www.pagefield.co.uk/news-insight...
“Many of the same people who complain most loudly about [US] deficits were also the most eager to reject tariff revenue that would reduce deficits.” Stephen Miran via @financialtimes.com
That’s because the fiscal policy and the tariff policy are both wrong.
That’s because the fiscal policy and the tariff policy are both wrong.
August 29, 2026 at 5:16 PM
“Many of the same people who complain most loudly about [US] deficits were also the most eager to reject tariff revenue that would reduce deficits.” Stephen Miran via @financialtimes.com
That’s because the fiscal policy and the tariff policy are both wrong.
That’s because the fiscal policy and the tariff policy are both wrong.
I note HM Treasury still hasn’t published any proper econ analysis of its plans to abolish the small parcels exemption and is doing its best never to have to. There’s a measure @andyburnham.bsky.social could abolish to help with the cost of living.
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Reforming the customs treatment of low value imports into the UK
www.gov.uk
August 27, 2026 at 7:28 PM
I note HM Treasury still hasn’t published any proper econ analysis of its plans to abolish the small parcels exemption and is doing its best never to have to. There’s a measure @andyburnham.bsky.social could abolish to help with the cost of living.
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
The EU and UK are (again) moving towards a position where it is going to be cheaper to import a Japanese or Korean EV into either country/bloc than to trade between UK and EU. From January 2027 - absent common sense - tighter rules of origin mean that many UK and EU EV cars will pay a 10% tariff.
August 27, 2026 at 7:23 PM
The EU and UK are (again) moving towards a position where it is going to be cheaper to import a Japanese or Korean EV into either country/bloc than to trade between UK and EU. From January 2027 - absent common sense - tighter rules of origin mean that many UK and EU EV cars will pay a 10% tariff.
1/2 The @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social continues to push for “fortress Europe” in areas such as cars, whilst bemoaning the fact that the UK is open to China. The EU would do better to get rid of (self initiated) barriers with UK and other trading partners which constrain cross border trade in EVs.
August 24, 2026 at 8:42 PM
1/2 The @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social continues to push for “fortress Europe” in areas such as cars, whilst bemoaning the fact that the UK is open to China. The EU would do better to get rid of (self initiated) barriers with UK and other trading partners which constrain cross border trade in EVs.
Can No 10 North pass the MG Rover test?
UK economic policymaking must not pick winners
capx.co
August 24, 2026 at 5:24 PM
One for @samuelmarclowe.bsky.social from holiday conversations. Talking to an art dealer in France, as one does, he was bemoaning Brexit hassles. The answer he said is to get the clients to go to Ireland to pick up the art work and take it to the UK. Swiss hassle is even worse though, encouragingly.
August 20, 2026 at 8:07 AM
One for @samuelmarclowe.bsky.social from holiday conversations. Talking to an art dealer in France, as one does, he was bemoaning Brexit hassles. The answer he said is to get the clients to go to Ireland to pick up the art work and take it to the UK. Swiss hassle is even worse though, encouragingly.
At a time when Ancient Greece is topping the bill, here’s something else to stimulate your thinking. Everyone from Mark Carney to Xi Jinping is quoting Thucydides to make points about today’s power politics, but what are the real lessons from the past? Details below @hellenicsociety.bsky.social
July 28, 2026 at 5:34 PM
At a time when Ancient Greece is topping the bill, here’s something else to stimulate your thinking. Everyone from Mark Carney to Xi Jinping is quoting Thucydides to make points about today’s power politics, but what are the real lessons from the past? Details below @hellenicsociety.bsky.social
“Brussels has rebuffed a British request to participate in decision-making in the EU, further delaying a deal to reset post-Brexit relations with the bloc.” @financialtimes.com I’m shocked, shocked I tell you.
July 4, 2026 at 8:56 AM
“Brussels has rebuffed a British request to participate in decision-making in the EU, further delaying a deal to reset post-Brexit relations with the bloc.” @financialtimes.com I’m shocked, shocked I tell you.
Great to listen in to an interview with @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social at Globe primary school, where I spend time helping pupils to read and enjoy books. A great reminder of the variety of attitudes to reading !
Michael Rosen (@michaelrosenyes.bsky.social)
Writer, performer, broadcaster, university professor
Website: www.michaelrosen.co.uk
YouTube Channel: 'Kids' Poems and Stories with Michael Rosen'
Radio show: BBC Radio 4 'Word of Mouth'
Goldsmiths Un...
michaelrosenyes.bsky.social
June 13, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Great to listen in to an interview with @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social at Globe primary school, where I spend time helping pupils to read and enjoy books. A great reminder of the variety of attitudes to reading !
@pmdfoster.bsky.social What do you think of the @martinsandbu.ft.com article today given our chat last week ! @davidheniguk.bsky.social
June 1, 2026 at 8:53 AM
@pmdfoster.bsky.social What do you think of the @martinsandbu.ft.com article today given our chat last week ! @davidheniguk.bsky.social
I’m cautious about signing up to too much where the UK commits to follow future EU changes without any say (aka dynamic alignment). But if Parliament agrees to dynamic alignment in certain areas, it makes no sense to require primary legislation for every subsequent change.
April 13, 2026 at 10:29 AM
I’m cautious about signing up to too much where the UK commits to follow future EU changes without any say (aka dynamic alignment). But if Parliament agrees to dynamic alignment in certain areas, it makes no sense to require primary legislation for every subsequent change.
My piece for @capx.co on why globalisation hasn’t failed but is a victim of its own success.
capx.co/globalisatio...
capx.co/globalisatio...
READ MORE
Only World War Three could turn it back
capx.co
March 30, 2026 at 2:00 PM
My piece for @capx.co on why globalisation hasn’t failed but is a victim of its own success.
capx.co/globalisatio...
capx.co/globalisatio...
OK where do I file my compensation law suit ?
February 20, 2026 at 6:46 PM
OK where do I file my compensation law suit ?
Great article @antonspisak.bsky.social
The EU wants trade to do geopolitics, but the #Mercosur deal is a reminder that signing isn't delivering.
New @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social insight by @antonspisak.bsky.social
Read here: buff.ly/IESx33T
New @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social insight by @antonspisak.bsky.social
Read here: buff.ly/IESx33T
February 19, 2026 at 8:23 PM
Great article @antonspisak.bsky.social
I see that the EU supported China in arguing that the US Inflation Reduction Act breached WTO rules, with which unsurprisingly the WTO panel agreed. How does that square with Buy European restrictions I wonder ?
February 12, 2026 at 2:39 PM
I see that the EU supported China in arguing that the US Inflation Reduction Act breached WTO rules, with which unsurprisingly the WTO panel agreed. How does that square with Buy European restrictions I wonder ?
Always goods to read @robertshrimsley.bsky.social Rutherford Hall @financialtimes.com. An adjacent article on gym equipment seems to have escaped from the column…
February 2, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Always goods to read @robertshrimsley.bsky.social Rutherford Hall @financialtimes.com. An adjacent article on gym equipment seems to have escaped from the column…
Would you say that a speech one of whose main points was misleading was brilliant ? I agree with Martin Wolf @financialtimes.com that Mark Carney’s comparison of Communism and the rules based system was misleading (“The reality of a world after rupture”). That seems a pretty major flaw in the speech
January 28, 2026 at 9:41 AM
Would you say that a speech one of whose main points was misleading was brilliant ? I agree with Martin Wolf @financialtimes.com that Mark Carney’s comparison of Communism and the rules based system was misleading (“The reality of a world after rupture”). That seems a pretty major flaw in the speech
Great analysis in trademark style !
Today's Trade Secrets. In which I madly ignore my own "nobody knows anything" advice & try to spot patterns (though not intent) in Trump's tariffs. I think I have. Some tariffs he TACOs, some he imposes. But all the explicitly coercive geopolitical ones like Greenland get TACOd and achieve nothing.
Why Donald Trump’s geopolitical tariffs tend to end in Taco
[FREE TO READ] Unlike his protectionist duties, the US president’s coercive foreign policy levies almost always come to nothing
as.ft.com
January 26, 2026 at 4:08 PM
Great analysis in trademark style !
The question we’re all asking is whether FIFA will demand that President Trump hands back the world peace award they gave him recently.
January 20, 2026 at 8:25 PM
The question we’re all asking is whether FIFA will demand that President Trump hands back the world peace award they gave him recently.
Ignacio Bercero going for the jugular here. This means it really is serious.
www.bruegel.org/first-glance...
www.bruegel.org/first-glance...
The end of the Turnberry truce: how the EU should react to US coercion over Greenland
The EU should be prepared to hit back against US economic pressure, deploying trade and anti-coercion measures
www.bruegel.org
January 20, 2026 at 6:06 PM
Ignacio Bercero going for the jugular here. This means it really is serious.
www.bruegel.org/first-glance...
www.bruegel.org/first-glance...
Anything happening today ?
January 20, 2026 at 11:22 AM
Anything happening today ?
“The internet is not a fantasy. It is a real place, real life. X remains a public square. Bluesky, by contrast, is where the teachers’ pets meet after class to study.” Stella Tsantekidou @newstatesman1913.bsky.social Ouch ! But true.
January 19, 2026 at 9:15 PM
“The internet is not a fantasy. It is a real place, real life. X remains a public square. Bluesky, by contrast, is where the teachers’ pets meet after class to study.” Stella Tsantekidou @newstatesman1913.bsky.social Ouch ! But true.
“The dangerous triumph of neo-mercantilism” great article by Martin Wolf @financialtimes.com. Most politicians are instinctively neomercantilist: they laud exports and decry imports. But many also see that better living standards require economic change. That’s the case for liberalism.
January 19, 2026 at 7:39 PM
“The dangerous triumph of neo-mercantilism” great article by Martin Wolf @financialtimes.com. Most politicians are instinctively neomercantilist: they laud exports and decry imports. But many also see that better living standards require economic change. That’s the case for liberalism.