Automotive

Cost Effective Specialist Training, Business Support and Helpline

Why not make our specialist in all areas of international trade and customs regulations part of your team? Why spend thousands employing specialists in these areas when we can be available via email or telephone when you need us.

The United Kingdom automotive industry is a key contributor to our economy. This sector is also the UK’s largest exporter of goods. The Pre-Brexit European Union was by far the most popular destination for UK manufactured vehicles.  Vehicle manufacturing provides an excellent example to the complexities of international trade. Where in country manufactured cars could previously benefit from the free circulation of goods due to the UK’s membership of the European Union, this is no longer the case.

UK automotive trade now needs to consider if the high value (certainly for any consumer choosing to buy a new car) product meets the Preferential Origin rule to benefit from Zero % Duty. If the goods cannot qualify then the positive rate of duty applicable for the goods, potentially increasing the purchase price for the buyer. Preference means an understanding of the appropriate “Rule of Origin” against the relevant trade agreement 

If the goods do not qualify for preferential origin or there is no trade agreement in existence, then the World Trade Organisation “Most Favoured Nation” Duty rate will usually apply at import by confirming the goods’ nationality, also known as the non-preferential origin, to import customs. Broadly this is country where the last substantial part of the manufacturing process took place. This means that although each component will have its own nationality if the car is being imported it is the manufactured vehicle’s origin that will be required.                   

We can appreciate that the work undertaken by the automotive industry is an excellent example of a highly skilled manufacturing process that will use a variety of components to complete the finished article. A component of a vehicle will have a different commodity code to the vehicle it will be incorporated into. Tariff Classification means a declaration of what the items is, not what the item will turn into. It also needs to be considered if the item is classed as a part; essential to the vehicle being able to operate or an accessory; which can increase the functionality of the vehicle but is not necessary for the vehicle to be used.   

There are many instances of companies involved in the supply of parts for automotive manufacturers utilising reusable packaging to transport their product. Brexit has increased the complexity for these goods moving between the UK and the EU27. The new Plastic Packaging Tax will add to the customs and trade compliance requirements.           

Cost Effective Business Support & Helpline

Why not make our specialist in all areas of international trade and customs regulations part of your team? Why spend thousands employing specialists in these areas when we can be available via email or telephone when you need us. This cost-effective business support partnership starts at £180.00 + VAT per annum and includes a regular update of changes and key issues related to your business and a £70.00 discount per delegate off public training run by Strong & Herd in London, Manchester or Belfast.

Training Options

Strong & Herd LLP offer international trade training as a public or in-company solution. Public training courses relevant to the aerospace, defence and security industry sectors include:

Public Training Courses ➝

All the courses listed above can be tailored to fit the requirements of companies involved in the automotive industries and extended to include the key international trade areas you need to know about.

Although we have a number of on-line international trade training courses for sale publically on our website our main area of on-line training is creating bespoke in-company training solutions which enables businesses to create their own e-learning training packages in bite-sized chunks – what we call SPOTLIGHTS – lasting between 1-2 hours per session. These SPOTLIGHTS can cover standard topics (as listed above) but the main advantage of this type of training solution is that we can ensure SPOTLIGHTS are written (and kept up-to-date) specifically covering what your business needs.

We suggest considering 4 standards for training in international trade matters:

Therefore, we are able to offer Distance Learning courses for all areas of international trade and customs compliance, some topics already exists other may have to be developed to make them in-company specific. Distance Learning can be via our on-line training portal which can be used on an individual basis (cost of between £35.00 – £65.00 per person/ per session) or as a corporate designed package administered either by S&H or by you. Alternatively we can organise bespoke interactive webinars, generally up to 2 hour long, to cover bite-sized chunks of information. This can be supported, if required, by the use of our assessment programmes.