UK has been forced to change tack as trade with EU descends into chaos With the levelling-up agenda and a determination to make the economy more self-reliant, now is the time to make more of our own goods 14 March 2021 • 5:00am Have you tried importing anything from the Continent of late? Despite the further delay in imposing UK border controls, to help ease the complexities of new trading arrangements with the EU, it is already proving a costly pain in the proverbial. As I have learnt to my cost in purchasing a piece of furniture from the online retailer Etsy. For starters, it has taken more than two months longer to deliver than advertised – blame it on Brexit, says the Portuguese manufacturer. It has also cost around 40pc more than the price agreed in additional VAT, “use of deferment”, and customs clearance charges. So much for the tariff-free trade the recently signed “Trade and Cooperative Agreement” was meant to deliver. I very probably would not have bought the item had I known about these extra costs.