British exporters call on government to ease post-Brexit trade frictions with EU

Almost two-thirds of British exporters have said selling to the EU has become harder in the past year, according to the British Chambers of Commerce, which is calling on the government to do more to smooth trade frictions post-Brexit.

Three years on from Boris Johnson signing the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with the EU, the small businesses which make up much of the BCC’s membership are still struggling to negotiate trade barriers.

Among those which export to the EU, 60% of respondents to the BCC’s latest survey said it had become more difficult than a year ago. By comparison, 18% of exporters to non-EU companies reported that it had got harder.

Just 14% of exporters agreed that the TCA was helping them to grow their business, while 49% disagreed.

“The thing about Brexit is, it’s not a static mechanism,” said William Bain, the BCC’s head of trade policy. “You’re dealing with a growing compliance burden that’s started to come in increasingly over the past 12 months. It creates more paperwork; it creates more cost.”

Source: The Guardian