Jarle Hammerstad is concerned that jobs will disappear in Sweden as a result of the reopening of borders. They want lower taxes to keep Norwegians in Norwegian shops.
- There is a lot of money and many jobs, we are afraid that they will disappear if everyone goes shopping in Sweden. This is Jarle Hammerstad, head of trade policy at Virke.
In 2019, the Norwegians spent around NOK 16 billion on border trade. Almost all of this turnover remained in Norway during the pandemic.
Concern for Norwegian jobs
Hammerstad believes that it is necessary to win the battle for customers tax reduction.
- We can take a few steps to make more of this trade take place in Norwegian stores. It is about adjusting taxes more to what we have in the countries around us. We still have big differences, says Hammerstad, who expects the new government to adequately engage with the problem of cross-border trade.
Photo: Thomas Winje Øijord / NTB
