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Commonwealth Free Trade is a concept built around the gradual introduction of a multilateral free trade agreement that would include member states of the Commonwealth of Nations. The idea of promoting inter-Commonwealth trade has emerged in recent years as a response to the current evolution of the global economy. Proponents in Commonwealth jurisdictions promote the idea as a means of diversifying and expanding their own national economies. However many Commonwealth countries already participate in existing, regional integration projects, including the European Union (3 commonwealth states) and Caribbean Community (12 commonwealth states). The concept has become popularised in Britain among those who are self-styled ‘Eurosceptics’, and wish for the UK to leave the formal political structures of the European Union, to be replaced with a Free Trade Treaty with the EU. But at the moment the UK-Trade relations are not significantly stronger with the countries of the commonwealth. From the Top 10 Commonwealth-Nations, measured by nominal GDP, Britain claim in no single one an import (for Britain an export) share of more than 4%, and only in three countries an export (for Britain an import) share above 4%. Germany for comparison does claim in three countries an import share above 4% (German export), and in three countries an export (German import) share above 4%. ==Historical origins== Throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, Britain exercised an informal trade system with her colonies and self-governing dominions. During the early 20th century, several political figures in Britain, led by Joseph Chamberlain, argued for a policy of Imperial Preference – both to promote unity within the British Empire, and to assure Britain’s position as a world power. The policy was controversial as it pitted proponents of Imperial trade with those who sought a general policy of trade liberalisation with all nations. The schism helped contribute to the defeat of Prime Minister Arthur Balfour and his Conservative-Unionist government in 1906, and had serious ramifications for Conservative prospects in the 1923 and 1929 general elections. One notable victory had been the establishment of the Empire Marketing Board in 1926, which encouraged Britons to ‘Buy Empire’. In 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression, representatives of Britain, the Dominions, and the Colonies met in Ottawa, Canada to hold the Commonwealth Conference on Economic Consultation and Co-operation. There had been an initial agreement on Imperial Preference, but a comprehensive agreement failed to materialise. Many of the Dominion leaders attributed this to the attitude of the British Dominions Secretary J. H. Thomas during the negotiations. In 1935, the Canadian Prime Minister, R. B. Bennett, a Conservative who endorsed Imperial Preference, was replaced by a Liberal, W. L. M. King. King responded to pressure from U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull and abandoned Imperial Preference. In the case of the Commonwealth, the U.S. was hostile to it from its inception, notwithstanding the fact that in the cases of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, there was an overwhelming preference for a trade system based on the United Kingdom rather than the U.S. The conclusion of World War II drastically affected the prospects for an agreement Commonwealth trade. The United States emerged as the foremost political and economic power, and its policy was to promote generalised free trade, primarily through the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The Bretton Woods conference, held in New Hampshire in 1944, had also created a direct link between the value of gold and the US dollar, thereby establishing it as the world’s reserve fiat currency. The war had also left Britain heavily indebted, economically weakened, and unable to absorb the flow of exports from Commonwealth jurisdictions. The Dominions, primarily Canada, directed their trade more heavily to the US market as a consequence. The idea of enhanced trade between Canada and Britain was explored in the mid-1950s by the Conservative government of Prime Minister John G. Diefenbaker. The plan, in response to the Canadian government’s concern with over-reliance on the United States, was to adopt policies that would see up to 15 percent of Canada’s US exports diverted to the UK. Representatives for both Diefenbaker and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan held exploratory talks, but no agreement was ever reached.〔Smith, Denis (1995), Rogue Tory: The Life and Legend of John Diefenbaker, Macfarlane Walter & Ross, ISBN 0-921912-92-7〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Commonwealth free trade」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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