Quote:
Originally Posted by Ignitionnet
Actually let me ask peeps here - if we go WTO, which it looks like we will, the EU's tariffs kick in on our exports to them. What would people have us do in response?
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Sorry, just catching up here. If you go WTO, it's not just the costs of the tariffs which will be borne by the customer, it's the non-tariff barriers to trade we really need to look out for.
Here's an article for example on the concerns for Dover -
https://www.ft.com/content/f308e8bc-...c-9588e51488a0
The HMRC does not think it will be ready for the sheer volume of customs checks needed for cross channel trade. On top of this is the potential divergence of standards between the EU and UK. If we start to separate ourselves from EU standards, then the EU will require inspections to ensure conformity to their standards to make sure we don't sneak a bendy banana or 2kW vacuum cleaner over the water.
This will suddenly affect 44% of our exports and 53% of our imports where before, it was frictionless.
Of course, we do this for the current 56% and 47% but this is an effective doubling of the load on customs and regulatory agencies.
In addition, to customs and conformity, it will seriously affect manufacturer supply chains. Manufacturers warehouse materials with hours worth of stock and rely on a smooth supply chain for efficient running. Delays of a few hours of delivery of materials can shut down production. This worries car manufacturers for example.
Finally, we can't ignore the 'Rotterdam Effect' and non-EU imports through ports not in the UK but in the EU. Joining the WTO tariff plan will remove EU ports from the equation..
Think tanks like Economists For Brexit have proposed zero import tariffs as a libertarian response but this still doesn't answer the question of conformity and traceability (plus zero import tariffs will destroy what's lefts of our manufacturing and agriculture)