Exports from Ireland to UK increase post-Brexit

Goods exported to the United Kingdom from the Republic of Ireland have increased by 20 percent since the Brexit Agreement was implemented in January, but trade in the opposite direction has fallen.

The post-Brexit-deal trade imbalance is revealed in figures released by the Irish Central Statistics Office this week.

The figures show exports to mainland Britain from Ireland increased to 6.7 billion euros ($7.85 billion) in the first six months of 2021, a rise of more than 1.1 billion euros compared with the same period in 2020.

Imports from the UK to Ireland decreased by more than 2.5 billion euros, or 32 percent, to 5.3 billion euros.

The data shows the impact new border checks have had, how British exporters have been hit, and how Ireland and other European Union exporters have profited from the phased transition period agreed, The Guardian reported.

Trade between Ireland and the UK has become more complicated since January, when the UK separated from the EU's single market and customs union.

British exporters face border checks on shipments to the EU, while Irish and EU exporters to the UK do not. Most UK import checks have been postponed to January 2022, meaning Britain will begin these processes a year later than the EU.

The Irish Central Statistics Office noted that exports to Great Britain account for 10 percent of Ireland's total exports. For exports to the EU, the figure is 36 percent. Total goods imports from the EU to Ireland jumped by 50 percent in the last year, it said.

The figures also show trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland has benefited from Brexit.

Under the Northern Ireland Protocol within the Brexit Agreement, all food, live animals, manufactured products and plant exports crossing the Irish Sea from the British mainland have to pass through an invisible border and will be subject to customs checks, despite Northern Ireland being part of the United Kingdom.

Last month, Brussels insisted it will not renegotiate the Northern Ireland Protocol after the UK had proposed to discard it.

The UK's chief negotiator, David Frost, had proposed dismantling key parts of the protocol, including abandoning full Irish Sea trade checks. He said the change was necessary to deal with "the situation we now face", referring to the difficulties of implementing the protocol, or moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission's vice-president, said the EU will not agree to a renegotiation, though the bloc has said it will "consider any proposals that respect the principles" of the deal, a BBC report noted.

A British government spokesman was quoted by BBC last month as saying: "We look forward to engaging in talks with the EU in the weeks ahead to progress the proposals in our command paper."