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What are the challenges facing the UK's push to boost British exports to the EU · THE DAILY BRIEF

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, it's been more than five years now since Brexit
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: and the UK's departure from the EU continues to have
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: a big impact on the British economy. Many manufacturers are
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  Speaker 1: facing higher costs, slower supply chains and more red tape.
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  Speaker 1: Prime Minister Kiirs Darmi is pursuing a reset with the EU,
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  Speaker 1: but the pressure is already forcing some companies to scale back.
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  Speaker 2: The world's finest cloth that's what Pennine weavers in Yorkshire
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  Speaker 2: and the North of England aim to produce. Their fabrics
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  Speaker 2: find their way into the luxury garments of designers like
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  Speaker 2: Berbery and Armani. Two thirds of their sales are to
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  Speaker 2: European clients. Brexit has had a big impact on the
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  Speaker 2: small company with around fifty employees.
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  Speaker 3: There is no doubt that our product has become more
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  Speaker 3: expensive because of the fact of the extra layers of bureaucracy,
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  Speaker 3: the extra costs that business have had to incur in
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  Speaker 3: dealing with all the paperwork, the shipping costs, the freight costs.
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  Speaker 3: It all adds up to costs. So you know, we
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  Speaker 3: haven't lost any actual customers, but I would suggest that
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  Speaker 3: we have lost business.
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  Speaker 2: Since Brexit. It also takes longer to get spare parts
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  Speaker 2: from the continent whenever a machine breaks down. Pennine weavers
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  Speaker 2: productivity has taken ahead. The UK Prime Minister Kire's DAMA
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  Speaker 2: is negotiating closer economic ties with the EU. He calls
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  Speaker 2: it a reset. The British Chambers of Commerce are now
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  Speaker 2: calling on the government to be more ambitious. Exporters of
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  Speaker 2: food or agricultural products in particular have found a new
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  Speaker 2: bureaucratic obstacles for cross order trade too much to deal with.
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  Speaker 2: Some have stopped trading with the EU altogether.
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  Speaker 4: We want to see very clear deals done, deals that
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  Speaker 4: shift the dial in terms of quicker, simpler, cheaper trade
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  Speaker 4: with the EU. Firms are tired of some of the costs,
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  Speaker 4: particularly agrifruit companies, extra burdens and delays, a loss of product,
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  Speaker 4: additional costs from export health certificates.
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  Speaker 2: The EU remains the UK's largest trading partner, but trade
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  Speaker 2: intensity has dropped significantly since Brexit, and with the end
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  Speaker 2: of free movement, European talent is lacking in the UK,
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  Speaker 2: say the British Chambers of Commerce. They are calling for
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  Speaker 2: the government to finalize a youth mobility scheme that would
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  Speaker 2: allow young Europeans into the country for a limited time.
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  Speaker 4: What business has been telling us over the last five
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  Speaker 4: years is that they're seeing skill shortages. They've been telling
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  Speaker 4: us about the difficulties of being able to deal with
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  Speaker 4: the visa system to get highly qualified applicants from the
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  Speaker 4: EU into posts and vacancies that are here in the UK,
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  Speaker 4: and we hear the same from EU employers as well.
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  Speaker 2: Until there are significant improvements in the relationship with the EU,
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  Speaker 2: exporters like Pennine Weavers are holding back investments the.
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  Speaker 3: Investment deca in this business, they're very large numbers. We
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  Speaker 3: have to have that confidence and unfortunately Breggs it has
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  Speaker 3: taken away that confidence in our ability too and our
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  Speaker 3: will to invest back into the business with capital machinery.
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  Speaker 2: Brexit continues to impact not only Pennine Weavers but a
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  Speaker 2: whole British economy. The pressure on the government to push
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  Speaker 2: through and finalize the reset with the EU is growing.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: And joining me in the studio is my colleague Chiponda
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  Speaker 1: Chimbilu from DW Business. Chiponder great to have you here now.
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  Speaker 1: How big is the need for a Brexit reset? As
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  Speaker 1: Prime Minister Kirstama is hoping to do.
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  Speaker 5: Well, it is obviously big enough for the Prime Minister
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  Speaker 5: himself to say that it is needed, and of course
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  Speaker 5: we did here also from the British Chamber of Commerce
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  Speaker 5: in that piece that was just played that a reset
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  Speaker 5: is needed. So businesses want to see it, and that
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  Speaker 5: is mostly because the UK is highly dependent on trade
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  Speaker 5: with the European Union and now just over forty percent
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  Speaker 5: of exports from the UK, so UK exports go to
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  Speaker 5: the EU and just over half of imports into the
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  Speaker 5: UK come from the European Union. So obviously trade is
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  Speaker 5: massive between the UK and the European Union, which is
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  Speaker 5: why these hurdles as a result of Brexit are such
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  Speaker 5: a major issue for businesses and that is something that
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  Speaker 5: of course the government will or should be working on
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  Speaker 5: trying to change, because economists have also been saying that
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  Speaker 5: the UK economy has probably grown at a much lower
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  Speaker 5: pace as a result of Brexit, probably up to eight
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  Speaker 5: percent lower than at the pace it could have grown
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  Speaker 5: in the last decade, and so this is something that
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  Speaker 5: has been recognized by economists and of course by the
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  Speaker 5: government and businesses, and this is why they want to
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  Speaker 5: see the change.
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  Speaker 1: So lots of trade, as you've outlined, but also lots
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  Speaker 1: of hurdles caused by Brexit. What kind of improvements could
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  Speaker 1: a Brexit reset bring for companies in.
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  Speaker 5: Well, we did see you some of the challenges that
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  Speaker 5: Pennine Weavers for instance, has been dealing with, and of
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  Speaker 5: course the challenges mentioned by the British Chamber of Commerce.
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  Speaker 5: It's about the red tape that exporters face, it's about
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  Speaker 5: getting talent, getting workers in particular, and to give you
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  Speaker 5: a sense of like the challenges the red tape that
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  Speaker 5: businesses face in the UK. Now, the UK does have
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  Speaker 5: an agreement with the European Union that it can export
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  Speaker 5: goods to the European Union without tariffs, so they are
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  Speaker 5: zero tariffs and goods from the UK coming into the
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  Speaker 5: European Union. However, UK businesses need to be able to
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  Speaker 5: prove that those goods were made in the UK and
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  Speaker 5: for that there is a definition by the European Union
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  Speaker 5: which says that ninety percent of the goods need to
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  Speaker 5: be made in the UK and also sourced in the UK.
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  Speaker 5: The parts have to be from the UK. So all
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  Speaker 5: of that is something that businesses need to be able
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  Speaker 5: to be in a position to prove with well red tape,
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  Speaker 5: and that is one extra cost, and then of course
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  Speaker 5: hiring workers that would mean of course visas and a
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  Speaker 5: smaller pool of workers to hire from as opposed to
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  Speaker 5: be for Brexit when they did of course have workers
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  Speaker 5: also from the European Union being able to go and
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  Speaker 5: work in the UK without a visa. So these extra
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  Speaker 5: challenges have really closed issues for companies, which has meant
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  Speaker 5: also like we heard from pin and Weavers that they
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  Speaker 5: are holding back investments because of course the cost of
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  Speaker 5: doing business is just much higher than before Brexit.
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  Speaker 1: That's Chiponda Chimbilu from DW Business. Thanks so much for
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  Speaker 1: that