Responding to the Department for International Trade’s announcement of a consultation on tariffs, Allie Renison, Head of Europe and Trade Policy at the Institute of Directors, said:

“This should put us on the path to a more consultative approach on global trade under the new Government. Previously, key decisions on tariffs have been taken with scant notice or regard for those most immediately affected.

“However, the consultation comes at a fraught time as we seem headed for simultaneous negotiations with both the US and EU. This will leave business scrambling to work out how one set of negotiations will affect terms of trade with the other, and underscores the need for maximum clarity across all negotiating objectives to allow firms any hope of preparing in advance.

“We look forward to the chance to put a balanced set of views to Government on our standalone tariff policy, taking account of needs across both producer and consuming industries. But businesses also need a much clearer understanding of how the new tariff regime would intersect with our upcoming trade negotiations and the continuity agreements DIT is trying to roll over.”