UK Provides Support for SMEs and Households Amid 'Trump Pressure'... Tariff Exemptions on 89 Items

Britain will suspend tariffs on certain imports to support small and medium-sized enterprises and households pressured by tariff impositions from the Donald Trump US administration.

On the 13th (local time), the UK Department for Business and Trade announced, "Import tariffs on 89 items including plywood, plastics, garden supplies, pasta, fruit juice, and spices will be suspended for the next two years."

The tariffs being suspended this time apply to imports that do not receive other tariff preferences such as bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).

Last March, British farmers drove tractors past Big Ben in central London. Photo by Yonhap News

The UK government estimates that this measure will save businesses at least 17 million pounds (31.8 billion KRW) annually. This is explained as emphasizing the commitment to free trade.

Separately, the UK Treasury announced that it will increase export finance support through UK Export Finance (UKEF) by 20 billion pounds (37.4 trillion KRW) to a total of 80 billion pounds (149.8 trillion KRW) to help export companies hit by the tariff war.

The Treasury explained that up to 10 billion pounds (18.7 trillion KRW) of the 80 billion pounds will be allocated to companies that have suffered significant short-term damage due to the current situation.

In a column for The Observer, the Sunday edition of The Guardian, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak wrote, "The Labour Party is an internationalist party" and "It understands the benefits of free and fair trade and cooperation. Now is not the time to turn our backs on the world."