Tariff-free imports on more than 250 goods extended to the end of 2028
The Treasury says the extension and a package of reporting changes will save businesses almost £800 million a year, with a consultation on further suspensions opening in November.
Businesses that import chemicals, plastics, vehicle parts, hydrogen equipment and some food and drink ingredients will keep paying no import duty on more than 250 product lines for two more years. The Treasury said on Friday that tariff suspensions due to run out on 31 December 2026 will now last until December 2028.
The announcement was part of a wider package that ministers say will save firms almost £800 million a year in tariffs and administration, ahead of the Budget on Wednesday.
How a tariff suspension works
The UK charges import duty on goods arriving from countries it does not have a free trade deal with, at rates set out in the UK Global Tariff. A suspension switches that duty off for a named product, usually because there is little or no UK production of it and the tariff mainly raises costs for British manufacturers who need it as a raw material or component.
Suspensions are time-limited and are reviewed. The Treasury estimates that the latest extensions will save importers up to £155 million a year. Suspensions that were due to end in June 2027 will be extended by six months to December 2027, while those judged to have no material effect will be left to lapse.
Firms will be able to comment on whether suspensions should continue beyond 2027, and propose new ones, during a consultation running from 11 November to 3 February.
The paperwork measures
The rest of the savings, more than £600 million a year, come from changes to reporting and guidance. The Treasury put the figures as follows:
- up to £290 million a year from simpler company reporting rules, with businesses that sit inside a wider UK group saving up to £20,000 each
- £105 million a year from cutting duplicated reporting for asset managers
- £116 million a year for firms involved in buying and selling homes, from a streamlined transaction process
For smaller firms, the government said it would standardise the requirements for bidding for public contracts in sectors such as construction, cut the number of Office for National Statistics business surveys, make support easier to find on GOV.UK and create a route for small businesses to report regulations they find disproportionate. It accepted most of the recommendations from its Small Business Regulatory Taskforce, which was set up with business leaders.
What comes next
The government has set a target of reducing the administrative cost of regulation for businesses by 25% by the end of this Parliament, which it says is equal to 280 million working hours a year for firms with employees. It reports £2 billion of net progress towards that target so far.
A list of the individual measures that count towards the target is due to be published on GOV.UK on 28 October. Business groups including the Confederation of British Industry welcomed the plans, and said the test would be how quickly firms notice a difference.
