The UK Department for International Trade has opened a four-week public consultation on plans to simplify the tariff regime to be in place at the end of the transition period on 1 January 2021. The tariffs will be levied on countries and trading blocs that do not have a free trade agreement with the UK. At present, the UK applies EU tariffs across a wide range of goods, with some of the highest tariffs on beef, sheep and dairy products. “It is vitally important that we now move away from complex tariff schedule imposed on us by the EU. High tariffs impinge on businesses and raise costs for consumers,” commented international trade secretary Liz Truss when launching the consultation.
The UK Department for International Trade has opened a four-week public consultation on plans to simplify the tariff regime to be in place at the end of the transition period on 1 January 2021. The tariffs will be levied on countries and trading blocs that do not have a free trade agreement with the UK. At present, the UK applies EU tariffs across a wide range of goods, with some of the highest tariffs on beef, sheep and dairy products.
“It is vitally important that we now move away from complex tariff schedule imposed on us by the EU. High tariffs impinge on businesses and raise costs for consumers,” commented international trade secretary Liz Truss when launching the consultation.
The document does not give any detail on individual tariffs that might be in place. Instead, there are three changes proposed:
That the UK will completely remove “nuisance tariffs” of 2.5% or less.That tariffs will be rounded down. Tariffs under 20% will be rounded to the nearest 2.5%; tariffs between 20% and 50% will be rounded down to the nearest 5%; and tariffs over 50% will be rounded down to the nearest 10%.Agricultural tariffs will be expressed as a single percentage rather than a mixed or compound tariff. For example, the tariff on fresh boneless cuts of beef is currently 12.8% + €303.40/100kg.UK confirms border checks
Michael Gove, the UK minister tasked with the implementation of Brexit, has said that the UK would be introducing border controls after the end of the current transition period on 31 December this year.
While restoration of border inspections for trade with EU countries are an inevitable consequence of Brexit, this is the first time that Government have formally stated that there will be checks and controls on imports into the UK from EU countries.
The EU has made clear that there will be checks on UK exports to EU countries.
He pointed out that this didn’t apply to trade on the island of Ireland or between Northern Ireland and Britain. However, the Irish protocol in the withdrawal agreement between the UK and EU provides for checks on goods entering NI from Britain to avoid checks at the land border.
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