The All-Party Parliamentary Group on EU Relations has produced a report showing why the United Kingdom must stay a full member of the Customs Union regardless of whether Brexit goes ahead.
Making an ideological choice to wrench Britain out of the EU’s Customs Union after Brexit would unilaterally surrender the best economic option for our country. It risks harming our economy by introducing tariffs and erecting non-tariff barriers to trade with our largest commercial partner and it risks imposing large amounts of new red tape on British businesses that import and export from Europe. It also puts the integrity of our borders at risk too, through the possibility of time-consuming customs checks that will cause gridlock at ports and the risk of a return to a hard border in Ireland. Leaving the Customs Union would be a reckless and economically dangerous self-inflicted wound. It doesn't have to be that way. Expert analysis suggests it could cause a £25bn annual hit to our economy, adding billions in costs to companies and increasing the number of firms forced to make customs declarations by 128%. This would be a disastrous result for our economy.
Making an ideological choice to wrench Britain out of the EU’s Customs Union after Brexit would unilaterally surrender the best economic option for our country. It risks harming our economy by introducing tariffs and erecting non-tariff barriers to trade with our largest commercial partner and it risks imposing large amounts of new red tape on British businesses that import and export from Europe. It also puts the integrity of our borders at risk too, through the possibility of time-consuming customs checks that will cause gridlock at ports and the risk of a return to a hard border in Ireland.
Leaving the Customs Union would be a reckless and economically dangerous self-inflicted wound. It doesn't have to be that way. Expert analysis suggests it could cause a £25bn annual hit to our economy, adding billions in costs to companies and increasing the number of firms forced to make customs declarations by 128%. This would be a disastrous result for our economy.
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