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British exporters report stagnating trade as post-Brexit delays blamed
Customs checks and border queues cited as leading
barriers, as only 29% of firms say sales increased in Q2
Phillip
Inman
@phillipinman
Thu 28 Jul
2022 06.01 BST
Britain’s
exporters have seen their overseas trade stagnate over the past year despite
strong growth in domestic demand for their products and booming export markets,
according to a survey.
The British
Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said that a survey of 2,600 exporters found a
quarter had suffered a fall in exports and another 46% reported no change.
Only 29%
reported an increase in sales in the second quarter, down from the 40% that
reported an increase in the first quarter.
Firms said
Brexit was one of the main barriers to exports, after the introduction of
customs checks and delays at the border.
William
Bain, the BCC’s head of trade policy, said that since last summer UK exports
have stalled to the EU and the rest of the world while many other leading
exporting countries have enjoyed a boom.
“The
combination of supply chain disruption, soaring prices, and the impact of
Brexit red tape and compliance costs has had chilling effects on exports,
especially for smaller firms already scarred by the pandemic,” he said.
A report by
the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the UK in a Changing Europe
thinktank last month found the “desire to pursue a ‘hard’ Brexit had resulted
in a significant increase in trade barriers and trade costs in goods and
services, as well as new restrictions on migration flows”.
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Highlighting
the hit to their income from rising import costs, the BCC said in its quarterly
trade confidence outlook that manufacturers trading overseas were under
particular pressure, with only 39% expecting their profitability to increase in
the next 12 months, compared with 48% of service sector exporters.
“Manufacturing
exporters are also the most likely (78%) to expect to raise prices in the next
year, a record high,” the report said.
Almost nine
out of 10 (89%) firms in the factory sector cited the rising bills for imports
of raw materials as their biggest cost pressure. Three-quarters of firms said
utility bills and rising wage costs were also hitting profits.
Bain said
that while recent official figures have shown an increase in exports to the EU,
this was mostly driven by trade with Ukraine to replace weapons and other goods
related to the invasion by Russia.
He said the
BCC’s export data showed “there are serious underlying issues – which are
hitting smaller manufacturing exporters the hardest”.
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