As the Brexit date of 31st of January passed we have spoken to a few customers who seem concerned about what is going to happen in the future. It’s understandable now that they have found a reliable supplier of quality old tools.
Firstly there will be no changes for the rest of the year whilst negotiations between the UK & EU are ongoing, however I don’t think there will be any extensions to this period.
I honestly believe whatever happens there will be some agreement to help both the UK & EU to trade freely. Failure to negotiate this with the EU council will result the UK will have to revert to world trade organisation (WTO) rate which will add import duties for EU citizens, however the UK government will have an option to help UK businesses to reduce business costs with the new funds raised by import charges on European imported goods to the UK. Whether this happens is up to the UK government but there would a significant pressure for this and if this was the case this would help UK businesses to become more competitive when selling globally.
The EU will do almost anything to stop this from happening for two reasons:
- The UK has a significant trade deficit with European nations (we import more that we export)
- The EU will not want the UK to become successful working on WTO rules because this would encourage other European nations to also leave it’s regulatory institution.
The UK is without doubt a European country and will always want close relations with all its European friends, we Brits will always buy German cars and French wine etc like we do today.
If Tariff’s do come into affect because there is no trade deal with the EU then this will probably result in fewer sales for UK & European businesses. There is a lot of uncertainty at this point but as a UK business we are taking steps that will ensure these affects are minimal.
Let’s hope the EU negotiators lose some of their bravado and put the European citizens and businesses first before considering their own agenda, although I get the feeling this won’t happen and will only serve to illustrate the British public were right to reject them in the referendum.
All I know is that EU regulations are a minefield which only large corporations benefit from, there has never been any advantages for SMEs like ours and never will be. Our opinions will never be important regarding in/out, we will just have to keep plugging away at what we all do best.
Isn’t it weird that people can be restricted from trading with each other due to tariff’s and regulations imposed simply by what country we live in. We have the world wide web with a regional deterrence to trade freely. Strange old world!
