Brexit and buying from the UK?

[Antonio J Carrasco]

Hi

First of all, a disclaimer: I don't intend to open a political debate on Brexit. It is what it is and there is nothing anybody can do about it.

My goal is to learn how Brexit may or may not affect European purchases from companies located in the UK. What I worry is if there will be custom taxes applied to British products imported into the EU. I don't know if someone here have more definite information regarding the issue. I know that the British government has published some "technical papers", that deal with the potential problems we can face post-Brexit. Perhaps somebody here have read them and can give us more information?

Truth be told, I am planning my purchases/budget for the next wargaming year (yes, I am methodical as that... learnt to be after accumulating too much unpainted figures in my drawers!). Usually, I spread my purchases through the year, but this time I don't know if it would be better to concentrate all of them before March 2019, when Brexit will be enforced.

My! How much I hate politicians! (ok... enough... I promised not to make this thread political)

[Lowtardog]

There are rumours counter rumours and plans but nothing set yet that is for certain. Also it doesn't necessarily mean everything is enacted by March next year. What is currently happening is the exchange rate on the pound is good so buying from the UK you get more bang for your buck  euro etc😁

[Antonio J Carrasco]

There are rumours counter rumours and plans but nothing set yet that is for certain. Also it doesn't necessarily mean everything is enacted by March next year. What is currently happening is the exchange rate on the pound is goid so buying from the UK you get more gang for your buck  euro etc😁

Yep. That is a good incentive to buy, indeed!

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

In the worst case, you could have to pay import duty on your figures after Brexit.
It would be exactly the same as if you but something from USA or from China.

In reality, I think there will be a trade deal very quickly after Brexit or at least an extension of the existing Eurozone trading for a further two years.
Both sides have far too much to lose by imposing WTO rules and counting each other as Erga Omnes for Impex.
I am a Purchasing Manager so sorry for the jargon.

I think as long as you do not buy anything in March to May 2019, it will be OK.

[Orctrader]

None of us will know the answer until a deal is struck or both sides go to WTO rules.

Personally  - I'm in the UK - the dramatic rise in recent years of International Shipping costs has stopped me buying much from outside the UK.  It was far-flung USA to start with, but now it's global.  I posted something to France earlier this year and thought the cost quite eye-watering even without insurance.   

[vexillia]

My goal is to learn how Brexit may or may not affect European purchases from companies located in the UK. What I worry is if there will be custom taxes applied to British products imported into the EU.

A sensible question but any tariffs and duties (VAT etc) will be levied by the EU & your government on importation and no one in the UK can say what the EU countries will do. I can't see the UK ever applying levies on export. 

The big issue will be buying from a small UK supplier who isn't registered for VAT or from a UK supplier that is VAT registered and doesn't ship to the EU VAT free (there are some):  you will have to pay your countries VAT (20% plus) & any admin charges on receipt. All this before duties etc.

I do know the EU has plans to remove small consignment relief which will mean VAT will be due on all parcels from outside the EU not just on parcels over a nominal value (20€ say).  It's part of the EU VAT simplification plan which has been delayed by Brexit.

Have you thought of asking asked your MP/MEP what they plan to do?

[Arlequín]

That is indeed the important factor; EU import duty is the key area that will cause a cost increase if no agreement is reached. Likewise orders into the UK will attract UK duty and as Vexillia says, the UK doesn't penalise its own exporters by duty (who does?).

Postage charges aside, buying from the UK will be the same as buying from any country outside the EU now.

[Antonio J Carrasco]

Postage charges aside, buying from the UK will be the same as buying from any country outside the EU now.

That is what I am afraid of, to be honest. Customs means that the cost of any order is increased by a 21% minimum (VAT), plus 4.5% (Custom taxes) plus whatever the courier fancies to charge as "handling costs" for making you the "favour" of calculating your taxes for you. That means at least a 30-35% of overcost on any given purchase. Do you see what I mean? Right now one of the reasons I can't buy from Brigade Games, in the US (and I love their Napoleonic ranges) is that with import taxes the price becomes prohibitive. Hopefully, reasonable agreement will be reached and trade exchanges will continue as before, but I don't hold my breath.

[Arlequín]

Que será, será. No point worrying. Fluctuations in exchange rates, or any other metric might do similar things, even if a deal is reached. We always adapt to change somehow and the sky is not falling.

Keep calm and carry on. 

[Pendrake]

In the worst case, you could have to pay import duty on your figures after Brexit.
It would be exactly the same as if you [bought] something from USA or from China.

Before the EU was established there was the EEC.
The US (and also China) was never part of the EEC.
However, Great Britain/UK was part of the EEC.

This might be a silly question:

Why wouldn’t matters of trade (for the UK; as regards Europe) simply revert to what existed prior to EU??

[FramFramson]

Wasn't the EEC dissolved when replaced by the EU? Same as the ECSC was replaced by the EEC? Correct me if I'm wrong.

[zemjw]

Personally  - I'm in the UK - the dramatic rise in recent years of International Shipping costs has stopped me buying much from outside the UK.  It was far-flung USA to start with, but now it's global.  I posted something to France earlier this year and thought the cost quite eye-watering even without insurance.   

This, a thousand times this 

Gone are the days when I'd buy something, taking a chance that it might get caught by customs, as p&p was sufficiently low that it was worth the risk. Now I look at post and packing and don't even bother going any further.

As a random example, there are a few figures on Brother Vinni's that I quite fancy just now. The figures are 6 euros each, so not too bad. However, customs kicks in at £15, so I'm looking at two figures before it's starting to get risky. p&p is a flat 6 euros, which is reasonable, but adds 50% to the order, so I don't buy.

With the weak pound and strong dollar, even buying something digitally brings pretty much a 1:1 relationship between the dollar and pound once VAT is added in

Fortunately the lead mountain has several lifetimes of figures still to paint, but the current trends are depressing and must be making it difficult for small companies to deal internationally (especially when you have tight fisted folk like me who complain all the time about p&p costs )

[MartinR]

Along with potential tax changes, there are potentially major regulatory changes which will disrupt the supply chain, but it all depends on what, if any, deal there is. A collapse of sterling which makes stuff cheap isn't going to help if your figures are sitting in a lorry park waiting for customs clearance.

So, as suggested above, plan for potential disruption next year.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

@Pendrake,

Re "Why wouldn’t matters of trade (for the UK; as regards Europe) simply revert to what existed prior to EU??"
Unfortunately, this is not an option. Britains Membership of the EEC was updated to membership of the EU. The EEC no longer exists.
EFTA is the equivelant for Switzerland, Norway Liechenstein and Iceland. This is still part of the customs Union and also EFTA members pay the EU for the free trade agreement.

The United Kingdom has given notice to leave the EU & Customs Union on 29th March 2019. As far as I understand there are only two options - deal or no deal.

No deal means that we go back to WTO rules as a country with no Free Trade Agreements. That means that everything that is exported comes under "erga omnes" as far as the importing country is concerned. This status remains until new FTAs are agreed and this means step by step for every product to every country.

Importing to the UK will be easier because the British government can pass a law to keep the existing import duties to the UK the same as they are now. Then they can adjust this over time as they negotiate all the new FTAs.

It took fifty years to get the current FTAs agreed. Don't let any politician fool you that all the thousands of export FTAs for every possible product can be arranged quickly. This will take decades.

I have tried to keep my answer factual and avoid politics. Unfortunately this is quite difficult with Brexit.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

 I think Mick is right.

Buy now, the exchange rate is in the Euros favour and it will allow your favourite manufacturers to stock up on candles and dried food ^__^.

Avoid thinking about buying February to June (the former because of lead time, the latter because there might be a sign that someone knows what is going on).

The world is a very different place to 50 years ago.