From Brexit Central on tariffs, etc..
This seems to be what Fox was hinting at recently (0% tariffs on food imports), which Gove has been at pains to "correct".
https://brexitcentral.com/tariff-policy-government-announce-29th-march/This was the thinking that had the NFU up in arms.
To take just this:
"Foodstuffs will be imported free of all duties. Note that this is one of the principal benefits of Brexit." First, it would decimate food industry, both for producers for the UK market, swamped by cheaper imports of potentially dubious quality, and the negative effects for food product exporters, which this "policy" paper merrily glides over.
Project reality:
"A no-deal Brexit would seriously harm the UK’s farmers, Michael Gove has admitted. The Environment Secretary told the National Farmer’s Union (NFU) conference that there was “no absolute guarantee” that British farmers could export any of their produce to the EU in a no-deal scenario, and would face punishing tariffs even if they could. Mr Gove also dismissed speculation that the UK Government could slash tariffs on food imports after Brexit, an idea hinted at by International Trade Secretary Liam Fox.
The suggestion had angered food producers, who warned they would be forced out of business by a flood of cheap imports. “It will not be the case that we will have zero rate tariffs on food products, there will be protection for agriculture and food,” Mr Gove said. The Environment Secretary said that with six weeks to go until Brexit, the UK had not been formally designated by the EU as a ‘third country’. Health and safety audits required by Brussels before that can happen could take up to six months, effectively locking British producers out of their biggest market under a no-deal Brexit. “The EU still have not listed the UK as a full third country,” Mr Gove said. “As I speak there is no absolute guarantee we will continue to be able to export to the EU.”
Read more at:
https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/brexit-michael-gove-admits-farmers-may-never-recover-from-no-deal-1-4875463Or this:
"Automotive components, parts and sub-assemblies. Duties should be removed. These currently attract duties of around 5%. Eliminating them will help UK assembly plants relying on supplies from Europe and Japan on a “just-in-time” basis." Andrew Neil
Verified account @afneil
Andrew Neil Retweeted Robert Harris
This much more important than all the Brexit-related drivel being tweeted about Honda today. If this is true the Brexit case that Leave = cheaper food has just gone down in flames.
Andrew Neil added,
Robert Harris
@Robert___Harris
Woah, hold on a second: Gove has just casually announced the U.K. will after all apply tariffs on imported food to protect British farmers. That both demolishes one of the rationales for Brexit, and raises the spectre of an issue that crippled the Tories in the 1840s & 1900s
11:02 AM - 19 Feb 2019
https://twitter.com/afneil/status/1097964650128437250However, applying tariffs would wipe out ROI's farming exports to the UK... with all the political chaos that would result from that...