Post-Brexit UK still imports more from outside EU than bloc, but gap narrows

On January 28, 2021, containers are stacked at the Port of Felixstowe in the United Kingdom. The photo was taken on January 28, 2021. REUTERS/File Photo/Peter Cziborra Reuters, LONDON, July 9 – Britain continues to buy more goods from outside the European Union than it does from the bloc’s single market, which it left in January, but the gap is closing, according to the country’s statistics agency. Until January this year, when additional impediments to cross-border trade were erected as a result of Brexit, Britain imported more than half of its goods from the EU. According to the Office for National Statistics, non-EU imports totaled 19.362 billion pounds ($26.74 billion) in May, while EU imports totaled 18.513 billion pounds. The disparity was 1.7 billion pounds in April, nearly double what it was in May. The UK’s overall goods trade deficit shrank to 8.481 billion pounds in May, the lowest level in in a year, according to ONS data, and much below the 11.1 billion pounds expected in a Reuters poll of economists. According to Reuters, the head of Britain’s busiest port, Dover, warned that trade disruptions could resurface if British tourists flock to Europe for summer vacations, putting further burden on already overworked customs officials. additional information ($1 = 0.7240 pound) William Schomberg wrote the piece, and David Milliken edited it. The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles are our standards./nRead More