Standards for food and chemical products and technical specifications for machinery have led to problems, study shows
UK exports to the EU fell by 15.6 per cent, or £12.4bn, in the first six months of last year because of Brexit trade frictions hampering the ability of British businesses to trade, new research has found.
The study by Aston University found requirements surrounding EU health and safety standards for products such as food and chemicals (SPS requirements) and technical specifications for machinery (TBT requirements), have been the most detrimental to aggregate British exports.
SPS requirements resulted in a 13.7 per cent reduction in exports on 2019 levels over the first half of 2021, while TBT requirements accounted for a further 1.9 per cent decline.
The authors assessed the impact of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which allows goods to continue to be bought and sold between the UK and EU without tariffs, then isolated the extent to which the new trade barriers were responsible for the decline in exports.
Although exports between the UK and the EU have returned to pre-pandemic levels, this does not “mean that the UK is on track” though, said Professor Jun Du, co-author and professor of economics at Aston Business School.
She added that other countries with similar economies have shown much stronger growth in trade activity over the same period, adding this was partly due to “the impact of non-tariff measures” on British exports.
John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform noted there was “some disagreement among economists about the extent to which the TCA has reduced UK trade. But, he added, “all agree that it has made the British economy significantly more closed”....
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