At the SMMT’s annual dinner in London, the trade association has again voiced concerns over the competitive dangers for UK manufacturers who are facing higher costs on shipments of goods to the EU when the UK leaves the trade bloc in 2019.
In his keynote address at the SMMT’s 101st Annual Dinner, SMMT President Tony Walker (also Deputy Managing Director, Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK), urged the government not to undermine the industry’s hard-won competitiveness.
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Walker said there is no substitute for free and frictionless trade, and called for quicker progress on agreeing a transition period following Brexit.
He said that while the UK Prime Minister has embraced the need for a period of transition to avoid a post-Brexit cliff edge, “we need to see concrete progress – and quickly.” This transition, he added, “should be on the current terms and, crucially, not time-limited” to give industry time to adjust and secure long-term investment decisions. “We will never stop striving to be competitive,” he told the audience. “But we ask government to help provide the conditions in which we can compete. Like every other industry, we need certainty now.”
Walker also said that the lack of progress over Brexit was already having an impact on the automotive sector: “We have huge challenges. Consumer confidence has fallen leading to a downturn in sales. Uncertainty about Brexit – and market confusion over diesel – are taking their toll.”
“We do not need trade barriers to be our next challenge. We are an industry with the character to overcome major obstacles. And we are working hard to maintain our competitiveness. But don’t test our character unnecessarily.
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By GlobalData“In the last forty years we have succeeded. We have torn down so many barriers. Please don’t allow new ones to be erected.”
A UK government minister, Greg Clark – Secretary of State for Business – also spoke at the dinner. “It is crucially important that we get the right Brexit deal in this industry,” he said. “This is an industry that is resolutely international and it will remain so. I completely understand that that means trade without tariffs, but also the need to minimise any frictions that would interrupt the precision and timing of your operational requirements. This sector is an example of the high levels of productivity that the rest of the country aspires to. There is no point in making the industry less successful or less efficient.”
