Originally Posted by
1959_60
OC, your version of Brexit means that we will have to sort out a trade deal with them and continue to be partners with them on some matters (you have quoted defence).
Fair enough. But that is just YOUR opinion. Some people want a complete break, others want closer ties of a greater or lesser degree.
Some people like Theresa's plan, others don't. There must be hundreds of different Brexits but the Quitters cannot coalesce on any single version.
Like I said, there is no consensus. You want a specific type of Brexit while others want a different kind. We are in a complete en passe.
I can speak from recent experience about trading internationally.
Until I retired last year I spent 25 years importing and exporting IT equipment. Over these years we developed trading partners right round the world. In this time we developed trust and understanding between us, which money can't buy.
For logistical reasons the contacts we established were around 75% EU and 25% the rest of the world.
Trading in the EU is truly as simple as trading within the UK. Payment is made and the goods were shipped and delivered within two days.
With the rest of the world it is nowhere near as simple. We deal with the USA, Asia, Africa.
Take Kenya for example. To supply them with goods we have to fill in ten different forms. The goods have to be inspected by a third party before they can ship. The time from shipping to delivery is around 6-8 weeks. In this time the customer is vulnerable to exchange rate fluctuations, which can turn a good deal into a bad deal whilst the goods are still on the water.
The same is true for every other non EU country we deal with. Each country has it's own requirements for form filling etc. which have to be understood and adhered to. Each countries requirements are different.
Having spent 25 years building up solid relationships within the EU I am at a loss why we are intending to put it all at risk. It was never "EU or rest of the world". It was always "both". If there is good business to be done in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA etc then OF COURSE we did it. We spent 25 years exploring and developing these markets.
So if we lose a big chunk of our EU business it is just not possible to replace it with non-EU business...because we have already explored these markets, and operate within them NOW.
I recently spoke to an Hiungarian customer of ours, who is VERY important to our business. He explained that his company are reluctantly putting measures in place for after we leave the EU to replace us as their main supplier.
It makes me angry when I hear politicians who obviously have no idea about foreign trade say "We do not need the EU. We will open up bigger markets when we leave"
Totally deluded and ill informed.