As Brexit Continues to Hobble the UK Economy, Manufacturers Warn of More Hardship to Come

We have reported on the aftermath of Brexit before in these pages and the results are fairly bleak. Brexit has driven the desire for Scottish independence, tanked British exports, reduced the available labor force, and led to shortages throughout the economy. The whole thing was an amazingly bad idea.

Bloomberg: "Brexit has been a drag on growth. It brought new red tape on commerce between Britain and its largest and closest market, and removed a large pool of EU labor from the country on which many businesses had come to rely. The combination has exacerbated supply chain shortages, stoked inflation, and hampered trade."

Only 18% of Brits believe that Brexit is going well with 53% saying it's going badly. Recent surveys show that the majority of the British population now would vote to rejoin the European Union, including many that originally supported the split.

A recent survey of British manufacturers suggests that things aren't going to improve anytime soon.

Guardian: "One year on from the end of the transition period, two-thirds of industrial company leaders in its survey of 228 firms said Brexit had moderately or significantly hampered their business. More than half of firms warned they were likely to suffer further damage this year from customs delays due to import checks and changes to product labelling." ...

"Delays at customs, the additional costs from meeting separate regulatory regimes in the UK and the EU, and reduced access to migrant workers were among top concerns raised in the survey."

These firms realize that Brexit red tape will increase this year because many of the new import/export regulations had been put off until 2022 to reduce the drag on the economy. Starting in January, imports from the EU will need to be accompanied by new customs declarations, and food products will face extra inspections beginning this summer.

These new Brexit regulations are expected to further decrease trade between the UK and its biggest trading partners in Europe.

#news #Brexit #economics

By: Don Lam & Curated Content