Foods will become more expensive without Brexit agreement

The UK and the EU should reach a final agreement a.s.a.p.

Buyers will face higher prices for their weekly purchases due to huge tariffs unless a free trade agreement is closed with the EU, a major trade body warned. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that supermarkets and their consumers would face an annual tariff of £3.1 billion for food and drink.

The industry group said that retailers "will have nowhere to go but to raise the price of food" to mitigate tariffs if there is no agreement before Christmas. He said that many non-food retailers will also face "high tariffs" for products of European origin, increasing the cost in shops and their customers.

In May, the UK published its new tariff schedule, which will be implemented by 1 January next year if the deal is not closed. According to the schedule, 85% of food imported from the EU will face tariffs of more than 5%, while the average tariff on food imported from the EU would be more than 20%. The figures showed that we will probably see a tariff of 48% on minced meat, 16% on cucumber and 10% on lettuce.