The British Car Industry Is Threatened With Brexit Tariffs
The British car industry is threatened with the introduction of some Brexit tariffs. The EU will not allow components from countries such as Turkey and Japan to be included in the local origin limit under the trade agreement.
The British Car Industry Is Threatened With Brexit Tariffs
The British car industry is threatened with the introduction of some Brexit tariffs. The European Union (EU) will not allow components from countries such as Turkey and Japan to be included in the local origin limit under the trade agreement.
An industry source said on Wednesday that he did not want to be named.
In the ongoing negotiations on a trade agreement with Britain after Brexit, the EU refuses to accept that components manufactured outside the Union may be combined with those from the EU and Britain within a duty-free limit of 55% of local components, the source said.
The details were outlined by the British chief negotiator for Brexit, David Frost, in a letter to representatives of the automotive industry, which is the largest exporter of goods in the country, and were first published by the BBC.
Although such a move would not lead to tariffs for manufacturers with a high proportion of domestic and European components, it could affect Japanese manufacturers such as Nissan, which uses more components from other countries than other British carmakers in its British plants.
"We want our team in Britain, which is around 7,000 people, to have the best possible chance of future success," Nissan said in a statement, which owns Britain's largest carmaker.
"We continue to call on the UK and EU negotiators to work together on a managed and balanced Brexit that will continue to promote mutually beneficial trade," he added.
Electric car manufacturers are at particular risk of customs duties, as their key components, such as batteries, come from outside the bloc.