The impact of England’s exit from the European Union is being felt.
Long lines waiting for customs clearance cause countless delays for European exporters. Follman Chemie, a German family chemical company, has gradually completed its plan to gradually expand activities at its plant in Great Britain. The company planned to invest 2.5 million pounds to make more adhesive products at the plant it bought three years ago in Andover, southern England, to increase its exports to its European Union customers. But CEO Henrik Follmann says the plan faces additional difficulties in shipping products to both sides of the English Channel. “Brexit has turned into a nightmare,” he says. “It increases costs and time.”
While Fulman has faced much more difficulty than other companies, his experience of high costs and delays in shipments between Britain and Europe is common to many companies facing more bureaucracy and more problems arising from the new customs controls.
While Britain and the European Union reached a last-minute trade deal to bypass tariffs on most products when Brexit began on January 1, trade between the two sides is hampered by shipping costs, transport delays, health certification requirements and a host of complicated customs. Requirements at the border.
Britain has become increasingly weak as a trading partner for the rest of the European Union since the 2016 referendum. Its share of the bloc’s exports fell from more than 17% before the vote to 14% last year.
