Separate figures released in recent days have shown the importance of exports to the EU to the North East economy.
New figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the North East exported £2.7bn to the EU during 2017, almost the same as the £2.8m it sends to the rest of the world.
It means the region has the second-highest proportion of exports going to the EU, after Northern Ireland (55%), while the data also showed that the North East’s exports were down 9.5% quarterly and 7% annually.
Meanwhile, manufacturers’ organisation Make UK has said that the value of trade with the EU in its sector is worth more than twice that of the United States, with seven of the UK’s top export destinations being within the EU bloc.
Jack Simpson, policy advisor at the North East England Chamber of Commerce, said: “The recent UK Trade Statistics should act as a stark warning to Westminster. Brexit uncertainty is damaging our country’s global confidence, and businesses are feeling the pinch with both export and imports in decline, led by a significant decrease in European Trade.
“The sudden drop was perhaps expected but does still give us cause for concern. In the build up to March 29, businesses were quickly fulfilling orders and importing extra stock to mitigate against a hard Brexit. Naturally business on both sides of the channel are working through held stock, resulting in this decrease in global activity.
“It is also concerning to see the drop off in the number of trading businesses, as companies exporting to the EU dropped to the lowest level in five years.
“Three years after the referendum, global businesses still don’t have answers to the most basic questions on the future trading relationship. This means business are forced to speculate about future trading costs and access, eroding our global competitiveness.”
Seamus Nevin, chief economist at Make UK, said: “These figures lay bare the overwhelming importance for manufacturers of trade with our closest market and the need to avoid imposing any barriers which will make this more difficult.
“Whilst the United States remains the biggest market and, presents significant opportunities for export growth, it is a fallacy to believe that geography is not the biggest factor driving trade. For UK manufacturers access to their biggest market must be a premium.
“The figures also provide an important reminder that we’re still one of the top ten biggest manufacturing nations and we want to see policy makers working with industry to help move UK manufacturing up the rankings.”
