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I’m MD of a rapidly growing SME. EU doesn’t stifle us. Importing from Germany is a damn sight easier than doing it from Hong Kong.
Let me tell you a little story about EU regs for SMEs. Imagine you want to import some cutlery from a supplier in the Far East. 1/
The first thing you’ll need is a commodity code so that, when your goods arrive at UK customs you get charged the correct import duty. 2/
So the first hurdle is to ascertain what your cutlery is made of. Is it plated with a precious metal? Wholly or in part? Is it s steel? 3/
Once you’ve worked that out you’d hope it would be job done, but no. It turns out that you’ve only got the code for spoons and forks. 4/
You have to go through the same process for the knives. Not your butter knives. They’ve got the same code as the spoons. 5/
It’s the steak knives because they’re tools. All of this to find out that you’re paying the same 8.5% tariff on both. 6/
Now, let’s imagine what happens when I buy the same products from an EU supplier. I just place the order.. That’s it. 7/
Until we leave the EU at which point go back to the beginning and start again. 8/
Boring isn’t it? So don’t give me your crap about SMEs and EU bureaucracy because you make yourself look foolish. END.
PS. Link. Knock yourselves out. Go and have a play. trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/trade-tariff/h…
