Tariffs, trade and Brexit

British Prime Minister Kier Starmer is in Brussels this week, joining a gathering of European Union leaders for the first time since Brexit, the BBC points out. It is part of a “reset” of relations with the EU, he notes, with hopefully better cooperation on security, crime and trade.

While Trump hoots and blows over in the US, going through the countries and threatening them all with trade tariffs, it might be the wisest thing for British government, to look to rebuild the relations between the UK and Europe. President Trump is not a character to be trusted, unfortunately. He has said that Kier Starmer is “nice.”

While Starmer has a tightrope to walk between keeping the nearest neighbour, the EU, happy, and not drawing the wrath of a world leader across the pond, it can hopefully be a better place for the British dairy sector if he succeeds at the former task.

The Times covered the increased cost of doing business for dairy in the EU in a well-written article this weekend.

In it, it detailed the losses incurred by British industry overall, and the cheese segment in particular – the work of Quickes’ cheddar and the Cheese Matters distribution hub are highlighted. SMEs have been hard hit, and the forms, veterinary checks, health certificates and border inspections mean that often, a distributor has to take over in order to get the cheeses across the line. These are expenses that the average SME does not need or can sustain long term. We also know that slip-ups in paperwork mean that the export certificates are not given, and more perfectly good cheese and dairy is destroyed, instead of getting to the European consumer. Plus, whatever cheese they do see, it is up to 40 per cent more expensive than before Brexit. It is tragic.

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