The government is expected next week to spell out its plan to mitigate a potential £9bn food-price shock from a no-deal Brexit, as analysts predict the cost of staples such as beef, cheddar cheese and tomatoes could soar. The relationship with the EU is key to the price of food because nearly one third of the food eaten in the UK comes from the bloc. On that basis the UK’s 2017 EU food imports would come with a hefty £9.3bn tariff bill on top, according to Retail Economics’s analysis. A country can set a quota, enabling a certain volume of a product to flow in before a higher tariff rate kicks in. But the direction of travel for prices looks clear, as demonstrated by Britain’s favourite cheese: cheddar.

Source: The Guardian February 23, 2019 06:56 UTC