The subsidies and grants are taken into account in the 10bn current contributions, since it's a net figure. Some part of the £40bn is not intended to be clawed back as it is payment for liabilities - projects, pensions etc We will get money back from the European Bank but over a long period. I don't take much notice of slower economic growth predictions, since they are made by economists that got it very wrong in the months post the Brexit referendum.
I suspect the uncertainty on both sides will just make it harder to reach a conclusion. Of course the German car makers want a deal which makes it easy to export to the U.K., or preferably no Brexit. But they will still be able to sell us cars in the event of WTO rules, just like they do to the US and most of the rest of the world now. They will either put prices up to compensate or take a hit on margins (which is what they do in the US). Like the Spanish constitution, the German one does not allow individual provinces to break away. The Constitutional Court there threw out a referendum request in January, with no resulting upset. I wonder which side the allegedly all powerful BMW would campaign on. But we still need to decide whether to continue to fund what comes out of the EU coffers at present. The economists may have over exaggerated their post referendum predictions but inflation has gone up and growth has slowed compared to both the EU and US.
They will either put prices up to compensate or take a hit on margins (which is what they do in the US). BMW builds over 400,000 cars in the US and is the largest exporter of cars from the US than anyone else.
Well you learn something new everyday. I was told that US BMW dealers have recently taken a 50% cut in their margins.
There does seem to be a movement in the EU away from federalism. It's moderate at the moment, and if Merkel calls another election, this may cast a light on further changes of attitude in Germany. I'd say it's not so much the prospect of being outside the EU that is influencing the UK economy (and it's not all bad, with record low unemployment) but rather the uncertainties that are inevitable with such a major change. It will take some years for the real Brexit influence to kick in, once relations with the EU are regularised and we have bilaterals in place with non-EU economies.
The German states have the right to sign International agreements with the consent of the federal government. These are normally economic or environmental and must be of direct consequence to the state concerned. One of the oldest international agreements is between Bavaria and Austria - something concerning the salination of salt (relatively unimportant). There are also agreements between Bavaria and the Czech Republic - because they have a national park shared between them. A similar situation applies to Belgium and North Rhine Westphalia, concerning the admin. of the Eifel and Ardennes. These are nearly always with neighbouring countries to the state concerned.
Which ones are made in the US? Cars are generally cheaper there I think. And dealers have to carry a lot of stock to cater for the buyer desire to turn up, choose and drive off in their new car, so I’m told. Unlike here where you wait for months for them to build and ship thee ****er.
From Google The BMW US Manufacturing Company, also known as BMW Spartanburg, is a vehicle assembly facility for BMW Group and is located in Spartanburg, South Carolina;[9] it is BMW's only assembly plant in the United States. The plant is currently BMW's sole global production site for X3, X4, X5, and X6 crossover SUVs whose biggest market is the U.S., while other BMW models sold in the U.S. market are imported
We are the second largest net contributor to Europe. You would have thought we could get that money back quickly but I have a feeling that the £350M a week won't be going to the NHS.
Official figures for the UK contributions to the EU By johnredwood | Published: November 21, 2017 The official HMT and OBR figures for 2016 shows the following Total gross contributions £23.148 billion (£445m a week) Gross contributions less rebate £17.865 bn (£343 m a week) Gross contribution less rebate and monies paid back to the UK through EU programmes £11.73bn (£225 m a week) The gross contributions are made up from Customs revenues £3.347bn VAT EU share £3.647bn GNI levy £16.154bn We need some new estimates of what customs levies would bring in were we to opt for the WTO model. Indicative figures are that the UK would levy £12bn on EU imports into the UK. This money would be available to give back to UK consumers as tax cuts and benefit increases, so customers were not worse off if they wished to continue to buy so much EU product. The EU would levy £5bn on UK exports to the EU, which would still leave our products more competitive than two years ago before the rise of the Euro.