Trade Truths for Trumpians and Brexiteers - Project Syndicate (Jim O'Neil)

...data on Germany’s total exports and imports in 2016 indicate that its largest trading partner is now China. France and the United States have been pushed into second and third place.

This news should not come as a surprise. I have often mused that, by 2020, German companies (and policymakers) might prefer a monetary union with China to one with France, given that German-Chinese trade would likely continue to grow.

...a country is likely to conduct more trade with big countries that have strong domestic demand, rather than with smaller countries that have weak demand.

...even if Brexit is not the UK’s biggest economic-policy challenge today, it will likely exacerbate other problems, including persistently low productivity growth, weak education and skills-training programs, and geographic inequalities.

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/trade-truths-trump-brexit-by-jim-o-neill-2017-03?utm_source=Project+Syndicate+Newsletter&utm_campaign=c22bb49d7a-the_sunday_newsletter_3_12_2017&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_73bad5b7d8-c22bb49d7a-93854061#comments