By Ian McConnell
BUSINESSES have highlighted a raft of problems with the UK’s post-Brexit trade deal with Europe, prompting British Chambers of Commerce to call for “urgent steps” from the Johnson administration to address these issues.
A survey by British Chambers of more than 1,000 firms published yesterday shows just eight per cent agreed that the Trade and Co-operation Agreement was “enabling their business to grow or increase sales”, while 54% disagreed. For UK exporters, 12% agreed the TCA was helping them, while 71% disagreed.
Among comments received from 320 respondents about specific disadvantages of the TCA, firms said it had led to rising costs for companies and their clients, smaller businesses did not have the time and money to deal with the bureaucracy it had introduced, and it had put off European Union customers from considering UK goods and services because of the perceived costs and complexities.
Only 59 firms identified an advantage.
William Bain, head of trade policy at British Chambers, said: "This is the latest BCC research to clearly show there are issues with the EU trade deal that need to be improved.
“Nearly all of the businesses in this research have fewer than 250 employees and these smaller firms are feeling most of the pain of the new burdens in the TCA.
READ MORE: Ian McConnell: Lost business and wages –the very live saga of Brexit.
“Many of these companies have neither the time, staff or money to deal with the additional paperwork and rising costs involved with EU trade, nor can they afford to set up a new base in Europe or pay for intermediaries to represent them."
He added: "Accredited chambers of commerce support the UK Government’s ambition to massively increase the number of firms exporting. If we can free up the flow of goods and services into the EU, our largest overseas market, it will go a long way to realising that goal.”
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