Should we care two hoots whether negotiation of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP, pronounced ‘Tee-tip’ by cognoscenti) has ‘de facto failed’? That’s what German economy minister Sigmar Gabriel said this weekend, pointing out that since talks between Brussels and Washington began three years ago, no agreement had been reached under any of the 27 headings tabled. European Commission spokesmen rushed to claim the deal was still alive, but no one would bet on it reaching a conclusion in this decade — nor on that conclusion, whatever its shape, being greeted with joy by Europe’s citizens.
‘So what?’ I hear you ask. We’re not going to be part of it anyway, and if the Europeans aren’t smart enough to agree terms for ‘the world’s biggest free-trade area’, with all the extra jobs and growth that promises, then surely the door is open for top trade negotiator Liam Fox to shimmy in and secure Britain’s place as America’s best buddy on this side of the pond?
Except, of course, that it isn’t like that.
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