Business and Chamber Counter Brexit’s Growing Impact Together

26 September 2024

A new report by researchers reveals that the negative impact of Brexit on the UK’s goods exports and imports to the EU has continued to grow during the years 2021-2023.

Researchers at Aston University Business School’s Centre for Business Prosperity published their findings earlier this month, under the title Unbound: UK Trade post-Brexit.  Focusing on the trade in goods between the UK and the EU, they concluded that exports were down 27%, and imports down 32%, compared to where they would have been if Brexit had not happened.  Energy-related trade was excluded from the research, so as to avoid any suggestion that the results are simply reflecting fluctuations in energy prices.

The report, which is based on detailed statistical analysis of trade figures, also states that the UK’s exports are less diverse than they would have been without Brexit, with 1,645 fewer types of British products being sold into the EU.

Unequal impact

Overall, the researchers found that trade in agrifood, textiles and materials manufacturing (wood and paper) have been the worst affected.  The biggest causes, they say, have been regulatory, in order to comply with and product standards, safety checks, labelling and packaging requirements.

Exports to some of the EU’s larger economies, such as France and Germany, have been resilient in some sectors – aircraft and rail transit for instance – but exports to smaller, more remote EU countries have been hit particularly hard, with greater reductions in the number of products types traded.

Conversely, imports from economically larger countries closer to the UK have declined steeply, whereas imports from smaller, more distant EU countries have been resilient.

Exports of consumer goods to the EU have been the worst affected, where even small cost increases have a major impact on a products competitiveness in the market.  Exports of intermediate and capital goods have also declined, though imports of capital goods from the EU have been largely unaffected.

Diversifying supply chains

The report recommends that UK traders actively seek to diversify their supply chains, looking to suppliers beyond the EU, in Asia, Africa and the Americas, in order to counter overdependence.  By doing so, they may also open up new export opportunities.

A government spokesperson commented that it will "work to improve our trade and investment relationship with the EU and tear down unnecessary trade barriers, while recognising that there will be no return to the single market, customs union or freedom of movement", according to the BBC, which also suggested that changes to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) are unlikely this year, while the government completes its new industrial and trade strategies, and the current EU Commission prepares to begin its next 5-year programme.

Working together

Trusted by a growing number of exporter and importer SMEs, West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and Chamber International have been providing practical international trade services to businesses in order to keep goods moving smoothly and efficiently across the UK’s borders.  As business owners and managers connect with this network, the Chamber’s leverage continues to grow, as it advocates for the needs of businesses in today’s challenging environment, enabling them to overcome barriers to trade, and maximise profits.

Contact us to discover more about how we can work together.

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