❗Help close the gap: We still need to raise $40,000 by the end of March. Donate now

U.S. manufacturers worry about Brexit

Sabri Ben-Achour Jun 23, 2016
HTML EMBED:
COPY
An employee works on an engine production line at a Ford factory in Dagenham, England.  Carl Court/Getty Images

U.S. manufacturers worry about Brexit

Sabri Ben-Achour Jun 23, 2016
An employee works on an engine production line at a Ford factory in Dagenham, England.  Carl Court/Getty Images
HTML EMBED:
COPY

This story has been updated to reflect the results of Thursday’s Brexit vote.

The U.K. is about 4,000 miles away from the U.S., but its decision to leave the European Union has the potential to affect U.S. suppliers with operations there. 

Jim James is CEO of Ideal Industries, which makes electrical supply equipment and hand tools, among other things. They do some manufacturing in the U.K. and sell into Europe. Ask him about Brexit and he has questions: “Will there be restrictive free trade? Will our employees be allowed to move around freely?”

He knows that when the U.K. leaves Europe, it also leaves all the trade deals between European countries. U.S. companies manufacturing in the U.K. leave those deals too. Trade barriers could be enacted.

To the extent that concerns over Europe’s future lower investment in the EU, “any U.S. company that has got significant operations in the U.K. selling into Europe has to be worried about changes in the business climate,” said  Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist at Northern Trust.

After all, what happens to the European economy also happens to their European sales.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.