A complex arrangement to manage trade and preserve peace in Northern Ireland after Brexit is souring relations between London and Brussels and risks unsettling the U.K.’s close ties with Washington just as President Biden meets British Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week.
It is also causing headaches for Ashley Pigott, managing director of AJ Power Ltd., who says his firm, which makes diesel generators in Craigavon, 30 miles from Belfast, is ensnared by red tape and onerous new costs because of the so-called Northern Ireland protocol.
London says the six-month extension is necessary to help Northern Irish traders already laid low by the pandemic adjust to new arrangements.