It would be wrong to focus too much on 2021 when looking at the effects of Brexit on UK trade. We have just published a new paper looking at how it affected UK trade between 2015 and 2018. It shows for the first time that fears about Brexit weakened the UK’s trading position long before the vote to leave the EU even took place.

This article, circulated widely on social media at the time of the referendum, claimed in error that EU tariffs starve African farmers. Since then it has been updated with an errata explaining its stated facts and conclusion are wrong. No tariffs are paid except on weapons. / NOTE: This article has now been removed from CAPX. We've linked to a copy from the WayBackMachine web archive.]

The biggest crisis of Brexit to date actually still lies ahead of us in late 2020.

The UK left the EU at the end of 2020, and according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, Brexit has already led to a significant slump in trade between the EU and the UK... / Brexit supporters endorsed the idea of CANZUK – an alliance between the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

It's been five years since the UK voted to leave the EU. The vote appalled those who saw it as economic self-sabotage. But those in favor of leaving were not swayed by economic arguments — and likely still aren't today.

85% of world is joining trading blocs... as we decide to leave

So far, in the first two months of Brexit, the following industries have indicated that they have been harmed: Aerospace; Airlines; Architecture; Art and Antiques; Beer; Bees; Cattle and horse breeding; Charities; Cheese; Chemicals; Cars; Classic Cars; Construction; Cosmetics and Perfume; e-Commerce; Fabrics; Fashion; Ferry services; Film and TV production; Financial Services; ...

Even the keenest Brexiteer must feel that the process has been tortuously long. / That has been, in large part, because successive British governments have refused to accept the trade-off between untrammelled sovereignty and friction-free access to the EU’s single market, a refusal that shapes today’s increasingly testy relationship.

In September 2021, UK goods trade was 11.2 per cent, or £8.5 billion, lower than it would have been if the UK had stayed in the EU’s single market and customs union.

We could have been forgiven for thinking Brexit was done when the UK left the EU at the very end of 2020. However, for retailers the real challenge of Brexit is likely to be felt in early 2022 when border controls are finally introduced for the UK.

Get Brexit Done’ has unravelled in a spectacular fashion; a significant knock to the economy, removal of rights and freedoms, more red tape for business and – the most heart-breaking of all – trouble has returned to Northern Ireland. The obvious answer to this foreseeable problem is for the UK to be part of the single market and customs union.

Now that many advanced economies have recovered and are close to – or above – their pre-pandemic level of output, we can compare Britain’s economic performance to its peers. The results are troubling.

Food has experienced a bit of a political renaissance as a result of Brexit. Farmers, workers in the food system, retailers and everyone who eats; all have been uneasy over the real risk that Brexit would negatively impact on our food system.

The Tory leadership race has brought a no-deal Brexit closer. Most candidates have either elevated No Deal to a heightened form of Brexit - a "clean" Brexit - or have insisted it is preferable to an extension beyond the current Article 50 deadline of 31 October.

Otto English dissects the disadvantages that a free trade agreement between the two countries would bring to the UK.

Putting politics aside, let us look at a more technical aspect of free trade negotiations – rules of origin (ROO).

A 19th Century trade agenda will decimate the most productive parts of the 21st Century economy.

New trade figures out today show another small increase in Britain’s trade with the EU in March after a big drop after the UK left the single market in January. But trade still remains well below pre-pandemic levels, even as trade with other nations has recovered much more strongly after the initial shock of the pandemic to be only 4% lower in March 2021 than two years previously.

Tor Mackenzie, Founder of MAD Yorkshire takes stock of the issues created by Brexit and how the industry can bounce back.

But so far, it’s not looking good: a hit to trade of this size entails big structural changes to the British economy, with capital and workers being shifted between sectors of the economy, businesses going bust, and higher prices for imports eroding living standards.

Continuing the letter to Jacob Rees-Mogg, reminding him – he seems to need reminding – of the many new opportunities created by Brexit.

An EU-UK free trade agreement will result in new barriers to trade and border friction even if the UK chooses to unilaterally align itself with EU rules and regulations.

It is no good offering people a ‘story to believe in’ if it ends in harm – but the Prime Minister does not know any other way, observes Jonathan Lis.

A wave of disruptions is rocking the world trading system. Britain’s divorce from the European Union has turned messy, while the U.S. trade war with China has investors on edge. The cost of such risks is substantial, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Economics of OECD data.