Brexit: Exacerbating problems in British companies’ trade with the EU

The passage of time does little to alleviate the problems faced by UK companies in their trade relations with the European Union under the terms of the trade agreement reached between the two sides in the context of Brexit.

This reveals a survey by the Association of British Chambers of Commerce in October, where 45% of participating companies said it was very or relatively difficult for them to trade with the EU. the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) came into force, at which time 30% of the companies had reported problems in trading goods with the block.

The percentage was even higher, reaching 60%, for British export companies.

“These data show that the issues that have arisen with the TCA are not ‘short-term’ but concern more structural defects which, although they can be remedied, if they are not addressed, will cause long-term damage to our imports and exports,” he said. the general manager of the Association of British Chambers of Commerce.

The percentage of British companies that reported difficulties in trade in services with the EU also increased, to 23% from 14% previously.

The research findings are in line with official figures showing that British export companies have struggled to comply with international trade standards since the world’s fifth-largest economy withdrew from the European single market.

In October, Britain was the only country in the Group of Seven (G7) whose exports of goods had not recovered to the 2018 average.

Proponents of Brexit say Britain will be able to make better use of faster-growing markets in the long run than when it was in the EU. .

The survey, which involved about 1,000 companies – with 41% of respondents coming from the manufacturing sector – was conducted between October 7th and 31st.