Brexit One Month On: Pain for U.K. Firms, Red Tape, and the EU’s Vaccine ‘Big Mistake’

Red tape, unfinished business and a vaccine row threat to a delicate deal. Bloomberg's Joe Mayes and Marc Davies discuss how the U.K.'s faring one month after Brexit, and the impact of the EU's vaccine row with AstraZeneca.
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MORE: Truckers are trying to avoid the U.K. as Brexit red tape keeps them waiting to get to the continent.

New weekly data highlight the additional costs companies face when trading between Britain and the European Union after U.K. left the single market on Dec. 31. While the two sides agreed not to impose tariffs on goods, so-called non-tariff barriers are nevertheless creating obstacles for business.

Freight firms are shunning the U.K., keeping rejection rates on contracts well above the third-quarter average last week, according to high-frequency data from Transporeon, the global logistics platform. This was at least partly because haulers are being put off by delays -- the median time truckers spent in lines at Ashford, southeast England, was about 15 hours.

The cost of sending freight between the U.K. to the European Union also remained abnormally high. Stephan Sieber, chief executive of Transporeon, said this underscored that rates were not following their usual seasonal dip in the first quarter of the year. The price of shipping cargo from France to Britain was still 42% above the third-quarter average last week.

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[YouDntSay]

Never forgetm:
1. the EU didn't change any rules, the UK placed itself outside he well-greased machinery of the SM
2. This is also damaging to EU28 citizens, consumers, and businesses, so stop whining. You did this. At least you could habe a bit of consideration for the colateral damage you've done.

[cydoman]

Brexit always meant Brexit, right? The problems experienced by the UK go-it-alone choice must be owned exclusively by the UK. That is the only way to solve them for there is no other entity to count on. This was always baked into the cake, so get to the work at hand and make whatever lemonade you can.

[Tyler-tzoy]

Trade is much tighter now and the tariffs and quotas are terrible!

[colinshaw]

ItS now evident thar tThe EU is not going to give in to us leaving so. It’s making it hard for us to operate, so it’s either stay as we give in or the obvious NO DEAL and wa walk away

[ksfinancials-investingands]

Brexit was the best thing that UK can do