Date: 17/11/2020
Author: GMCC Trade Team
Company: GMCC Trade Team
Liz Trust, Trade Secretary announced that the UK government will continue to remove and reduce tariffs on goods from developing countries after the end of the transition period.
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The trade preference scheme will cover any eligible countries that do not have their existing trade agreements transferred to a new agreement with the UK.
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The UK imported approximately £8 billion-worth of textiles and apparel products from eligible countries last year. The government is planning to improve the scheme to better support developing countries – more details will be announced in 2021.
Liz Truss will announce today (Tuesday 10 November) that British importers will continue to pay zero, or reduced tariffs, on everyday goods such as clothing and vegetables from the world’s poorest countries.
The UK’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) will cover the same countries that are currently eligible for trade preference under the EU’s GSP, allowing businesses to trade as they do now without disruption.
Imports from 47 of the world’s least developed countries, including Bangladesh and Malawi, will not face any tariffs, supporting their economic development through business and trade. Low-income and lower-middle income countries will benefit from lower tariffs compared to the UK Global Tariff.
In 2019, the UK imported approximately £8 billion-worth of textiles and apparel products from countries which are part of the EU GSP. This accounted for 30% of all textile and apparel imports into the UK. We also imported approximately £1billion-worth of vegetables from eligible countries, accounting for around 8% of all vegetable imports.
For more information, please visit the UK Gov website