German firms would face billions in extra tariffs in hard Brexit: IW

BERLIN (Reuters) - A hard Brexit would result in extra tariffs of more than 3 billion euros ($3.44 billion) for German companies per year, a German institute said on Tuesday, adding that German exports to Britain could drop by up to 57 percent.

The IW economic institute in Cologne said such a scenario would hit Germany's mighty auto sector particularly hard as it would face around 60 percent of those extra costs.

In the long term, a hard Brexit would probably result in price rises and a shift in Germany's flows of goods, the IW said.

($1 = 0.8715 euros)

(Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Maria Sheahan)