12% Surcharge to export none EU to the EU from the U.K.

[DSLiverpool]

So we all know the best way to ship from China into the USA is from Canada because it avoids the “we hate China” tax America has.

For the EU / U.K. Brussels was concerned the U.K. would slash none EU supplier import duty thus making the U.K. the European gateway for all none EU goods. It’ll be cheaper importing from China via the U.K. to say Germany for example.

As such they agreed a 12% surcharge on none EU sourced items exported from the U.K. into Europe.

How this will be managed I don’t know but it’s a fact and it’s in place now.

[Simpo Two]

Presumably for the sake of this argument, the UK is not 'non-EU', even though it now is?

[VEIGHT]

They are going to need a bigger bus to fit all this information on!

Pre Brexit we were in a fantastic position to expand our exports to the EU, now I'm thinking it's really not worth the stress and hassle even the couriers don't know what information they need and have suspended all our shipments 8 days in!

[Simpo Two]

VEIGHT said:

Pre Brexit we were in a fantastic position to expand our exports to the EU, now I'm thinking it's really not worth the stress and hassle even the couriers don't know what information they need and have suspended all our shipments 8 days in!

Yebbut - you can't unravel decades of increasingly detailed integration overnight. It will shake out. No surprise the EU was keen to keep us less competitive; it's what they feared the most.

[Ean218]

Where is this info published?

We've sent a couple of hundred on-line orders out this week of items we have imported, but the duty payable on entry to the EU/UK was already zero rated so how/why would they attract an extra charge?

[DSLiverpool]

Ean218 said:

Where is this info published?

We've sent a couple of hundred on-line orders out this week of items we have imported, but the duty payable on entry to the EU/UK was already zero rated so how/why would they attract an extra charge?

It’s was widely known to be coming but always assumed it’d be changed. It was on tv news yesterday even as the “oversight” has been noticed.
Major U.K. retailers are possibly pulling out of Ireland right now / restricting online orders.
It’s such a mess it was debated in parliament today and I’m sifting through it to see if anything’s been changed.
The reason why is quite clear but the ripple effect is possible very damaging.

[JaFool1]

Does anyone have an actual source for this 12% tariff?

It was obvious that goods sourced from outside of the UK/EU would be subject to tariffs even with a FTA in place, but we assumed the tariffs would mirror current external EU tariffs.

On our goods the current external EU tariff is 2.5%. It would be a blinding piece of negotiation if Boris has managed to up this to 12%

[DSLiverpool]

The source it’s that it’s in the new agreement with the EU

It’s quite well explained here

https://www.itv.com/news/2021-01-07/debenhams-clos...

It’s causing some issues with retailers I’m working with , the main one is that no ones asking about it in customs or carriers so will it be retrospectively applied?

The article mentions Bangladesh with China when
Bangladesh is still classified as LDDC and exempt from import duty for many classifications.

[JaFool1]

DSLiverpool said:

The source it’s that it’s in the new agreement with the EU

It’s quite well explained here

https://www.itv.com/news/2021-01-07/debenhams-clos...

It’s causing some issues with retailers I’m working with , the main one is that no ones asking about it in customs or carriers so will it be retrospectively applied?

The article mentions Bangladesh with China when
Bangladesh is still classified as LDDC and exempt from import duty for many classifications.

Thanks. So it seems there is no 12% surcharge as per the title of this thread.

From the article it seems that the 12% figure is only in relation to textiles. I don't know what the EU external tariff is but I would assume it is 12%. Hopefully all goods from the UK to EU that don't meet the tariff free origin criteria will be subject to the same EU external tariffs.

To quote the article ""I’m surprised that retailers are surprised by this"

[Ean218]

Yes, as suspected it is to do with country of origin and whether the goods in question have a tariff code that makes them liable to third country duties.

So thankfully it is not a blanket 12% duty surcharge as the title implies, although it probably would hit imported blankets....

[DSLiverpool]

Yes it’s not a blanket 12% but it is on blankets at 12% ! Jafool1 it’s certainly not just textiles though and it’ll need looking into however here’s hoping it’s “sorted” quickly.

[JaFool1]

DSLiverpool said:

Yes it’s not a blanket 12% but it is on blankets at 12% ! Jafool1 it’s certainly not just textiles though and it’ll need looking into however here’s hoping it’s “sorted” quickly.

There is nothing to 'sort'. Any goods that do not meet UK origin criteria will face the same external EU tariffs as before. I don't want to sound blunt but this was made obvious before the referendum and certainly after the UK stated we would be leaving the SM & CU

[DSLiverpool]

JaFool1 said:

There is nothing to 'sort'. Any goods that do not meet UK origin criteria will face the same external EU tariffs as before.

Ok - it seems to have taken a lot of people by surprise hence it being debated in the HoL on Friday.

[loafer123]

People will be looking at the origin of their products in more detail, that much is certain, and that goes for EU companies selling into the UK too.

Our main product is mostly made in Korea, which, completely fortuitously, has a FTA with the EU, so we should be fine.

For those dropshipping Chinese tat across the EU, it will be more difficult.

[PF62]

DSLiverpool said:

JaFool1 said:

There is nothing to 'sort'. Any goods that do not meet UK origin criteria will face the same external EU tariffs as before.

Ok - it seems to have taken a lot of people by surprise hence it being debated in the HoL on Friday.

God knows why they were taken by surprise as this was known about and has been discussed ever since the UK voted to leave.

As for the HoL, perhaps the senile old buffers ought to be reminded of the HoL Select Committee which discussed this in 2017 - https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201617/lds... and to quote "131.‘Rules of origin’ would apply to the UK both were it to agree a FTA with the EU, and if it were to trade under WTO rules, although the applicable rules of origin would differ in each case"

Here is another article on the subject dated March 2018 - www.cer.eu/insights/brexit-and-rules-origin-why-fr...

[DSLiverpool]

PF62 that’s really interesting thanks, quite amazing it’s been on the news, in the papers etc etc

Gove has even said it’s something to be ironed out !

[PF62]

DSLiverpool said:

Gove has even said it’s something to be ironed out !

There is nothing to "iron out", other than businesses coming up to speed and dealing with the new rules which are a 'benefit' from being outside the EU.

You would have thought that Gove of all people as an architect of Brexit would have understood this.

[loafer123]

PF62 said:

DSLiverpool said:

Gove has even said it’s something to be ironed out !

There is nothing to "iron out", other than businesses coming up to speed and dealing with the new rules which are a 'benefit' from being outside the EU.

You would have thought that Gove of all people as an architect of Brexit would have understood this.

What is interesting is that both Royal Mail and DPD have both stopped U.K. EU shipping whilst they adapt their computer systems to cope with the new rules of origin, so even the big boys got it wrong.

[PF62]

loafer123 said:

PF62 said:

DSLiverpool said:

Gove has even said it’s something to be ironed out !

There is nothing to "iron out", other than businesses coming up to speed and dealing with the new rules which are a 'benefit' from being outside the EU.

You would have thought that Gove of all people as an architect of Brexit would have understood this.

What is interesting is that both Royal Mail and DPD have both stopped U.K. EU shipping whilst they adapt their computer systems to cope with the new rules of origin, so even the big boys got it wrong.

My understanding was that they had stopped U.K. EU shipping because their customers who are using them to ship parcels are not completing the forms they need to correctly.

[loafer123]

PF62 said:

loafer123 said:

PF62 said:

DSLiverpool said:

Gove has even said it’s something to be ironed out !

There is nothing to "iron out", other than businesses coming up to speed and dealing with the new rules which are a 'benefit' from being outside the EU.

You would have thought that Gove of all people as an architect of Brexit would have understood this.

What is interesting is that both Royal Mail and DPD have both stopped U.K. EU shipping whilst they adapt their computer systems to cope with the new rules of origin, so even the big boys got it wrong.

My understanding was that they had stopped U.K. EU shipping because their customers who are using them to ship parcels are not completing the forms they need to correctly.

That’s what the news said, but speaking to them directly, it appears it is because their systems are not set up to be able to properly fill in the forms...presumably the customs 3D barcode.