The Brexit trade deal should help UK businesses – but: For many it is useless Selenskyj against territorial compromise ++ Biden pledges further support

Many British companies are not benefiting from the Brexit trade deal between London and Brussels. This is according to a study by the British Chambers of Commerce Association (BCC), which was published on Thursday evening.

Of the companies surveyed about the trade and cooperation agreement (TCA), 77 percent said the agreement had not helped them increase sales or grow their business.

In other areas too, the trade agreement – despite far-reaching tariff exemptions – cannot remove the problems of leaving the EU. More than half (56 percent) of mostly small and medium-sized businesses said they were struggling to adapt to the new trade rules. Almost half (45 percent) have difficulty with the regulation of trade in services. 44 percent say they have problems recruiting staff.

In addition to the problems with the trade agreement, an overwhelming majority (80 percent) of the approximately 1,170 companies surveyed say they have had to deal with higher import costs since the beginning of the year. More than half saw profit margins shrink and 70 percent reported a shortage of goods and services.

“Time Wasting Nightmare”

“Simply importing spare parts for broken machines or raw materials from the EU has become a huge, time-consuming nightmare for smaller companies, and logistical delays due to Brexit are causing huge costs when machines sit idle waiting for spare parts,” he said. from an East Midlands manufacturer.

BCC Secretary General Shevaun Haviland urged politicians on both sides of the Channel to look for ways of freer trade between the EU and the UK. “If we don’t do this now, Britain’s long-term competitiveness could be seriously damaged,” Haviland said. There are clear structural issues in the trade deal that cannot be addressed before a review scheduled for 2026. But there are also issues that can be resolved in the short term.

In a letter to the government in London, the association made twenty suggestions for improvement, including closing an additional deal with Brussels to reduce the complexity of export regulations for small and medium-sized businesses. The provisions on VAT and visa regulations should also be simplified in accordance with the will of the BCC. The union is also calling for a settlement of the dispute over the Brexit rules for the British province of Northern Ireland.

After a transitional phase around the turn of the year 2020/21, the United Kingdom has finally left the EU’s internal market and the European Customs Union. Since then, trade between the ex-member and the EU has been regulated on the basis of the TCA. (sda/dpa)