The British economy will be hit by a “permanent cost” of more than £25bn a year if it decides to withdraw from the EU customs union, a new government adviser on Brexit has said. But he admitted that leaving the customs union, inside which EU countries negotiate trade deals collectively and set common external tariffs, would reduce GDP by between 1 and 1.2% in the long term. Photograph: Jack Taylor/Getty Images“What we found is that, in the long run (up to 2030), there will be a permanent cost to leaving the customs union,” the analysis said. Adopting a different Norway-like model in which Britain was in the customs union but also had a free trade deal would be hardly different to remaining in the EU. Prof Jim Rollo, deputy director of the UK Trade Policy Observatory, added: “£25bn is not a small amount.

Source: The Guardian October 11, 2016 19:44 UTC