British farmers exposed by food tariff cuts, NFU warns

Farm leaders have warned that plans to suspend tariffs on more imported food products could undermine British farmers while doing little to ease pressure on food prices.

The NFU said the government should be strengthening domestic food production rather than looking overseas for short-term solutions.

The warning follows confirmation that tariffs will be suspended on a selection of food products, including some fruits, pasta and tuna, until 31 December 2028.

The government has also launched a business engagement exercise as it considers further targeted cuts to agri-food tariffs, with more than 100 product types potentially included, such as biscuits, chocolate, dried fruit and nuts.

NFU president Tom Bradshaw said almost 90% of the UK’s food imports already enter the country duty free.

He said the union was “not convinced that removing more tariffs will help curb food price inflation”.

In a statement to the House of Commons earlier this year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said officials had been asked to look at where “targeted reductions to agri-food tariffs can help bring down food prices, balancing this against the implications for domestic producers and food security”.

Mr Bradshaw said farmers were also facing significant cost increases, partly linked to the conflict in the Middle East.

He warned that removing tariffs on selected imported grocery products sent “a worrying signal”.

He said it suggested that “at times of crisis, its instinct is to look overseas rather than to strengthen domestic food production and reduce exposure to global shocks”.

Mr Bradshaw said the government’s new Farming and Food Partnership Board had been created to build resilience and confidence across the sector, and said this should be where ministers focus their attention.

The NFU warned that seeking cheaper food in the short term could weaken longer-term food resilience.

Mr Bradshaw said: “Rather than looking at further tariff reductions, this is the time for government to back British food and farming.”

He urged ministers to introduce immediate measures to help keep on-farm cost inflation under control.

He said supporting food-producing businesses would help maintain a strong domestic supply and make farmers and the public less vulnerable to global price shocks.

Mr Bradshaw added that “chasing cheap food in the short-term” risked undermining domestic food production and the shared ambition for a sustainable food system.

The UK imports more than £64 billion worth of agri-food and drink products, with the NFU saying most of that already enters duty free, largely from the EU, trade agreement partners or under arrangements for developing countries.

However, the union said tariffs still play an important role in protecting sectors considered sensitive in trade negotiations, including beef, lamb, pork, poultry, crops, sugar and dairy.

The NFU said tariff protections help prevent domestic producers facing unfair competition from goods produced to standards that may differ from those required in the UK.

It also repeated its call for statutory core production standards to apply to food sold in the UK, saying this would help ensure imported and domestically produced food meet equivalent expectations.

In the absence of such standards, the NFU said tariffs help level the playing field and prevent lower-priced products from undercutting domestic producers.

The NFU also questioned whether removing tariffs would have a significant impact on food prices.

It cited a 2018 Institute for Fiscal Studies estimate that, under optimistic assumptions, abolishing all tariffs would reduce household prices by around 0.7% to 1.2%.

The union said currency changes and wider market pressures were also likely to influence prices across the economy.

The NFU said it would examine the full list of products to understand the potential impact on members’ businesses and ensure farmers’ and growers’ voices were represented once the engagement exercise opens.

The union is urging the government not to reduce agri-food tariffs on goods already produced in the UK to high domestic standards.

It warned that further tariff cuts could have only a limited impact on inflation while leaving domestic producers more exposed to lower-cost imports.