Politicians and the none commercial public really don’t get this ‘trade’ thing, it’s not about wether we can trade with Australia, Europe or wherever, its what the duty tariffs will be. When we went into the single market, 100’s of duty brokers lost their jobs, if we don’t get a tariff free deal with Europe which I have to say is unlikely since they don’t want us becoming the back door to their territory which would be incredibly profitable for us if we managed to pull it off. Then there will be simply more tariffs to apply at the point of entry, which means more jobs.
If you’ve ever imported stuff or worked in a company that does you will know the Tariff book is bigger than the Holy Bible and Koran stacked on top of each other and just as ambiguous. The Dutch in particular are the masters in ‘interpretation’ hence the massive trade hub around Rotterdam, we on the other hand have dull jobsworths that apply the first tariff they come to with the resulting increase in the costs of your goods.
Personally although it’s going to be a huge amount of work, I’m happier that in the long run control of inbound pricing is back under our mandate and if we manage to swing a deal, it could be a bonanza for UK manufacturers.
Take bikes for example, there is a huge tariff on ready built bikes from China, yet if imported as components it’s only about 4%, there’s a deal between us and Taiwan yet an anti dumping clause from I’m not sure where, probably the EU.
If we negotiate a better deal with China, down would come the cost of entry of bikes into here, then the possibility of re export to Europe via our tariff free agreement could flood their market with cheap chinese built complete bikes, so do you see where it could go and why it’s going to be complex?