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The latest trade data (January-September 2021) show a sharp drop in textile imports and exports between the European Union and the United Kingdom, but Portugal contradicts that trend and increased exports to the UK, in comparison with the same period in 2020.
In the first nine months of 2021, and compared to the same period in 2020, the EU recorded a drop of 44% (almost two billion euros) in imports and of 22% (about 1.6 billion) in exports. However, in Portugal the trend is the opposite: in the period in question, textiles and clothing sent to the United Kingdom reached 292 million euros, an increase of about 7% compared to the same period in 2020.
The European Union data comes from Eurstat, but the call for attention is from Euratex, the European confederation of the textile sector, which states that “the situation is likely to worsen, as the full customs regime between the United Kingdom and the Union has become effective on January 1st, 2022.” In this context, Euratex “calls for the cooperation between the European Union and the United Kingdom, in order to resolve issues in the joint trade agreement that obstruct smooth trade flows”.
The data shows that the EU countries most affected on the export side are Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, while on the imports the most affected are Germany, Ireland and France.