New: EU hauliers are refusing deliveries to the U.K. in January, due to threat of Brexit border chaos. Excellent story by my colleague @alexlongley1 1/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Trade experts have long warned of lengthy border queues post-Brexit, due to businesses not being ready for new customs documentation which will be required deal or no-deal 2/
And EU drivers are well aware of the threat. The result? Many simply won't attempt to cross the border in January, for fear of being caught up in the traffic. They can't afford to be idle for long, and they'll just take jobs elsewhere, says @RHANews 3/
So the reason for a hit to imports could be two-fold - drivers refusing to come *and*, those who do try, being held up in queues. Hauliers and logistics experts such as @JohnShirleyLtd and @vivamjm have been vocally making this point 4/
Girteka Logistics, Europe's biggest truck owner, said it expects 31-mile queues at the border, and hauliers may take a view to avoid the UK for a period of 3-6 months 5/
This all comes at a time when Britain's ports are already under huge strain, and have shown what can happen when supply chains face additional pressure 6/
Tariffs. This is the big one. Industries ranging from car-making to farming to food would face steep duties on U.K.-EU trade. Nissan, which employs 6,000 people in the Brexit-voting town of Sunderland, says its plant wouldn't be viable in that case 2/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
The City. We know finance is losing its passport to the EU, and has moved staff and assets into the bloc. But any hopes of an `equivalence' deal - where the EU deems UK-based firms compliant and therefore able to provide services - likely evaporate 3/bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Exclusive: Companies are turning to cheap EU labour to fill in Brexit red tape, due to a shortage of workers in the U.K. 1/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Reminder: hundreds of millions of customs declarations will apply to U.K.-EU trade after Brexit, even if there's an FTA. It's a consequence of leaving the EU's customs union. The docs cost between ~£35-£60 each, with an estimated total annual cost of ~£13 billion 2/
There is a shortage in Britain of trained customs staff to handle the paperwork, and the virus has hampered efforts to recruit more 3/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Strong question from @hilarybennmp to Michael Gove on Brexit: food supplies in NI threatened, border prep `frankly pathetic' per hauliers, IT systems won't be ready. Why is he optimistic, when others aren't?
Gove: I'm meeting businesses, there are challenges but opportunities 1/
Benn's question referenced the situation in Northern Ireland, where industry say changes to the Customs Declaration Service have come too late, and new software won't be delivered 2/
With ~35 working days until Brexit hits for real, a thread about the new IT systems... 1/
A House of Lords committee has just heard stark evidence from industry that critical systems won't be ready on Jan. 1, especially the customs system for Northern Ireland, known as CDS (Customs Declaration Service) 2/
Steve Bartlett, head of the Association of Freight Software Suppliers, says they haven't been able to do testing, there are grave reservations, they've simply run out of time 3/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Scoop: British bike makers face a wave of cheap Chinese imports after Brexit, as EU anti-dumping rules are dropped by the U.K. 1/ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Brompton Bicycles is among the companies in the firing line, as DIT has decided not to maintain the EU's tariffs of up to 48.5% on bikes coming in from China. The levy was introduced in response to large state support by China to its manufacturers 2/ eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/…
Post-Brexit, the UK has control of its trade defence policy. It says it will only maintain EU anti-dumping rules if domestic producers make up more than 1% of the local market for a good. They say British bikes failed on this metric 3/ gov.uk/guidance/trade…
(Caveat: these benefits sit alongside an array of negative consequences in the form of worse access and higher costs of doing business with the EU. But if you follow @Brexit, you knew that already. So let's focus on potential positives...) 2/
(Also: it would be helpful if the govt did a better job of pointing out concrete, real-world examples of Brexit gains that go beyond rhetorical flourishes and are undisputed wins only possible outside the EU. This took a fair amount of leg work. End of preamble!) 3/