According to a temporary plan, the Temporary Tariff Regime, the UK government will not levy customs duties on most goods imported into the country in the event of a no-deal. There will also be no levies on goods that will be imported into Northern Ireland.
There will, therefore, be a temporary arrangement from the evening of 29 March in the event of a failure to reach an agreement with the European Union or if the Brexit is postponed. There are no controls on the border with Ireland in that scheme.
According to that temporary plan, no tax will be levied on 87 percent of the imported goods compared with 80 percent now. The temporary arrangement would apply for a maximum of 12 months pending a final customs arrangement.
“If we leave the EU without an agreement, we will drop the majority of import duties and only keep them for sensitive industries,” said George Hollingbery, Secretary of State for Trade at a press conference. “This balanced approach makes it possible to preserve British employment and prevent a sudden rise in prices, which would be hard on modest incomes.”
But for EU countries, under such circumstances, unlike today, import duties are actually imposed, including on fuel, fertiliser, certain types of fruit and fish, dairy products, meat and cars.
A new car from the EU would then be charged with a tax of more than 10 percent. London is expected to introduce import duties on a chaotic Brexit on 18 percent of goods imported from the EU.
The government also confirms that there will be no levies and no border controls on the border with Northern Ireland. “We realise that there are challenges to this approach and that it can be misused,” the British government said in a communication. “But we are open to urgent discussions with the European Commission and the Irish government on this issue.”
The no-deal Brexit can be beneficial for exporters from countries outside the EU. In the plans, the percentage of goods imported from those countries without import tariffs rises to 92 percent. That percentage is now 56 percent.
