Northern Devon and the importance our trade links to Europe - Tim Jones

Northern Devon has a rich and fascinating history of export trading with both Europe and other parts of the world. Centres such as Barnstaple established, over many centuries, significant successful businesses such as in the cloth trade.

Towns like South Molton acquired huge wealth from medieval times onward from 'fulling' or 'tucking' a process of cleaning, strengthening and waterproofing cloth.

A series of Tucking Mills sprang up across the area where huge wooden hammers beat the cloth to thicken it powered by local streams and rivers. Devon cloth, known as 'Kerseys', was sold across Europe for making cloaks and coats. To sell the cloth, merchants used small boats or pack ponies to reach Barnstaple from where it was exported to France and Spain.

Fishing was also a powerful sector with around 200 Devon ships following the cod routes to Newfoundland and along the North American coast. Look no further than photos of the fleet moored close to Long Bridge last century.

Pottery exports have left a lasting legacy made from the great clay moors of Peters Maryland, Fremington and Meeth. Barges were then used for easy transport along the Taw and Torridge rivers. Clay products were sold across the world, with millions of pots being exported to America - returning shipments included tobacco which was then distributed from the important port of Bideford.

This is only a snapshot of how powerful exporting has been for our region. It is, however, not a history lesson but a reminder of how significant exporting could be for the future.

It is hugely important that the region has benefited from investment by foreign owned companies generally to supply established international trading customers. What, however, of the local, home owned and grown, businesses who wish to emulate our forebears?

Up to 2019 access to European was a simple and cost effective route into one of the largest consumer markets in the world. All types of business could participate. Then there was Brexit which disrupted all of that.

'No worries' we were promised following some highly optimistic claims made by, amongst other, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Some might reasonably say the confidence, that the lost trade with Europe would be more than made up for by new world trade deals, was a delusion. This has sadly proved to be the case. 'Global Britain' has learnt a harsh lesson that the global trading system has moved on. Britain outside the EU has become increasingly isolated from the three competing trading blocks - US, China and the EU.

A small success was recorded recently when a local sheep farmer was able to celebrate the occasion of the first lamb export to the USA for 20 years - potentially worth £37m to the UK over the next 5 years. The chances, however, of a UK international trade deal with the US look increasingly remote.

President Biden is adopting even tougher protectionist measures than Donald Trump having recently launched an America First agenda supported by the “Inflation Reduction Act” - $700bn to re-patriate overseas US businesses or investment and the America’s Chip Act - subsidies to bring semi-conductor manufacturing back home.

This has triggered a US-EU trade war.

The EU, in response, is trying to re-invent its State Aid rules but has also raised the stakes with a new series of Carbon reduction taxes on imports into the block.

We already know that a trade deal with India is only moving at glacial pace - now in the sixth round of talks. This leaves the hastily executed and poorly thought through deals with Japan, Australia and New Zealand to “celebrate” and the complex and highly risky possibility of a link to the Asian free trade partnership (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership).

All of this means that the UK has lost at least 5% of its export trade compared with 2019 and this is masking much higher unofficial predictions.

So back to our near neighbours across the channel. We did sign a Trade and Cooperation Agreement in December 2020 for tariff free trade with the EU. The latest survey, however, suggests that this has failed to help 75% of UK export companies increase sales or grow their businesses.

Much of the reason for this can be put down to small issues, paperwork/red tape, difficulties of adapting to new regulations for trading goods, VAT differences and rules about points of manufacture. What should be an easy entry point to the world’s largest zero-tariff, zero-quota free zone is simply not happening.

Undoubtedly a lack of willingness to cooperate and the culture of goodwill are contributory factors. The critical fact is that for every month that passes the EU is replacing long term UK suppliers with other non-UK alternatives. In short Brexit has left a deep scar with our neighbours. Centuries of successful business are slipping through our fingers.

This does not need to be the way it is. Given a collective approach we can refresh those commercial links with our oldest trading allies. The Government may not have any money but it can help to remove the barriers, act as an effective trade ambassador and reopen these vital doors. We must demand noisily.

Written by Tim Jones, Chairman of the North Devon Biosphere Foundation