"In total the EU faces a potential of having to deal with the cost of £12.9 billion in UK tariffs, an average levy of 5.8%, and UK exporters face EU tariffs of £5.2 billion, an average of 4.5%," the study by Justin Protts of the UK-based Civitas think tank showed.
The estimations were based on the potential tariffs the parties may be dealing with if the trade was conducted under WTO Most Favored Nations (MFN) terms following the United Kingdom withdrawal from the bloc without any new trade deals.
On June 23, the United Kingdom voted on referendum to leave the European Union. On October 2, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said that the country would trigger Article 50 of the EU Lisbon Treaty by the end of March 2017 to start the official procedures to cease its EU membership.
A number of EU leaders have already stated that the United Kingdom will lose its access to the single market unless it keeps freedom of movement rules. May, meanwhile, suggested at the Conservative party conference in early October that the country’s exit from the European Union would be a "hard" rather than "soft" Brexit, meaning that control over immigration would be prioritized over the access to the European single market.
