For some reason searching and accessing the article through google worked for me.
I wonder if the US is holding out for access to the British Virgin Islands and the Caymans?
Some key points from the FT article.
Traitors!
...or something.
https://www.politico.eu/article/brussels-demands-uk-pay-e2-7-billion-in-lost-customs-duties/The European Commission today formally demanded that the U.K. pay €2.7 billion into the EU budget after investigators found that British authorities allowed a massive fraud network originating in China to evade paying the appropriate level of customs duties.
No, the EU demands you pay the EU because you didn't charge the required duties even though you were warned by the EU that your chinese suppliers were, among other things, under-invoicing. But you would have known that if you had bothered to actually read the article.Europe demands we pay Europe because we bought cheap clothes from China.
Here I am starting to agree with you... even if my reasoning is vastly different from yours. The UK clearly cannot be trusted to honour its obligations. Thus far the UK government has not given even the slightest hint that this is something that's going to change any time soon. Thus the EU is much better off with the UK completely removed from this valuable project.This is yet another example of why leaving the EU is a good and necessary thing.
So you say... your comment didn't reflect that though.I did read the article by the way.
No, it was rather hopeful of me to assume that you hadn't read the article. Because the alternatives (to not having read the article) are worse.Ignorant of you to assume that I didn't.
The EU is also demanding that they will keep full rights to fish UK waters after Brexit. But that is not cherry picking, of course, Cherry picking is something that the EU would never want to do.
Europe demands we pay Europe because we bought cheap clothes from China. This is yet another example of why leaving the EU is a good and necessary thing.
The EU is mainly complaining about insufficient duty/tariffs - the VAT is a secondary issue.
The UK knowingly let Chinese import cheap clothes without paying customs and without paying proper VAT. A percentage of that is due to the EU. Therefore, the UK failed to pay its obligations to the EU.Europe demands we pay Europe because we bought cheap clothes from China. This is yet another example of why leaving the EU is a good and necessary thing.
The EU is mainly complaining about insufficient duty/tariffs - the VAT is a secondary issue.
The EU is simply behaving in its usual protectionist racket mode - it is unable to compete with China in the production of cheap clothes so it applies a tariff to inflate the price of such clothes to nearer the price they can be made for in the EU.
<snip>
Once we've left the EU we'll get the benefit of cheaper clothes while our European neighbours will continue to hand over their hard-earned cash to Brussels.
And you wonder why the majority voted to leave.![]()
NoThe EU is mainly complaining about insufficient duty/tariffs - the VAT is a secondary issue.
The EU is simply behaving in its usual protectionist racket mode - it is unable to compete with China in the production of cheap clothes so it applies a tariff to inflate the price of such clothes to nearer the price they can be made for in the EU.
How about you pay (at the under-invoiced prices) the manufacturers about 15 cents (or 22 cents at market rates). Throw in another 5 cents for shipping and handling. Import duty seems to be about 12% on the CIF cost of the tshirt, so that would be around 2.50 cents (or 3.25 cents at market rates). Congratulations... your cheap t-shirt cost is now 22.50 cents when it enters the EU market. The 'more expensive' t-shirt would have cost a whopping 30.25 cents when it enters the EU market.If I buy a cheap Chinese T-shirt, I pay the manufacturers maybe $1, the shippers and handlers another $1, and then the EU wants me to also pay another $1 to them to be wasted by the EU bureaucracy.
I think you'll be disappointed by the benefits... but sure after March 2019 I suppose you should be able to get your t-shirts a few cents cheaper than before.Once we've left the EU we'll get the benefit of cheaper clothes while our European neighbours will continue to hand over their hard-earned cash to Brussels.
No, not any longer.And you wonder why the majority voted to leave.![]()