Asia trade needs to get ready for the impact of Brexit and the US undoing of NAFTA

Published: Dec. 6, 2017, 12:43 a.m.

b'Brexit and a potential US withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement could have large ripple effects on trade in Asia, helping some countries and hurting others, according to prominent trade economist Ben Shepherd. What\\u2019s more, Asia\\u2019s tightly integrated supply chains could be disrupted in the aftermath. \\n\\nShepherd told a seminar at the Asian Development Bank Institute that although the UK\\u2019s withdrawal from the European Union and a potential US pullout from NAFTA seem remote from Asia, any effects on trade flows will be keenly felt in the region.\\n\\nThe trading system is a great example of a global, closed, integrated network, meaning if you change something somewhere, you change everything everywhere. These distant trade policy changes are important for Asia, even though we are geographically distant from that going on. \\n\\nRead the transcript\\nhttp://bit.ly/2A8aN6p\\n\\nWatch the complete presentation\\nhttp://bit.ly/2At679W\\n\\nAbout the speaker\\nBen Shepherd is a principal at Developing Trade Consultants.\\n\\nKnow more about ADBI\\u2019s work on globalization\\nhttp://bit.ly/2A5PuCh'