A no-deal Brexit would raise import-export costs

Article Excerpt

Britain voted in June 2016 to leave the European Union. This means that 40 years of economic and social integration will have to be untangled and new rules for doing business with the EU will have to be established. Former British prime minister Theresa May made three unsuccessful attempts to get the U.K. parliament to approve an agreement that would govern the nation’s relationship with the EU after the split. Her successor, Boris Johnson, plans to take Britain out of the EU by October 31, with or without a deal. A range of new customs requirements will be introduced for U.K. firms in the absence of any deal. They will also operate under a number of new laws regulating imports, exports and the movement of goods as well as health-and-safety requirements. Almost all measures that facilitate the trade and transportation of goods between the U.K. and the EU could potentially be cancelled. That would leave British businesses to face burdensome customs…