US Chamber Says Any Brexit More Difficult for Exporters Than Status Quo
The executive director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's U.S.-UK Business Council, said that even a customs union would be more complicated for U.S. exporters than the status quo. Marjorie Chorlins was speaking with reporters on a conference call April 17. "The amendment proposing a customs union came very close to passing," she said, in response to a question from Export Compliance Daily. But exactly what would be included in the customs union could vary -- it does in Norway and Turkey, she said.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
The Chamber has not taken a position on how it would like the future relationship of the United Kingdom and European Union to be structured, except to say it wants a transition period of at least 20 months and it hopes for "an environment that remains as frictionless as possible."
Chorlins said "American companies have a huge stake in how this goes, both as exporters and as investors." Because of the fear of a crash-out Brexit, Chorlins said express shippers hired a lot of additional customs agents. She said she doesn't know whether those new hires will be retained throughout the negotiations and a transition.