Theresa May’s plan for No Deal tariffs delayed by Cabinet row over tax on food imports

THERESA May’s plan for No Deal tariffs are being delayed by a bitter Cabinet row over the tax on food imports.

Sources told The Sun that Ministers “cannot agree” on the duties to slap on food products and ceramics.

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Environment Secretary Michael Gove is pushing for higher tariffs but Chancellor Philip Hammond and Trade Secretary Liam Fox are lobbying for lower duties in order to protect consumers.

A Cabinet sub-committee on trade, chaired by the Prime Minister, was supposed to make a final decision on Wednesday but the row means it was taken off the agenda.

The Government must decide by Monday how much it would set tariffs under a no deal Brexit.

Under international trade rules tariffs must be the same across all imports regardless of whether they come from the EU.

The Treasury and the Department for International Trade fear that hiking tariffs on food imports would raise prices in UK supermarket shelves in a no deal Brexit.

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But Mr Gove told is seeking higher duties to protect homegrown suppliers.

And he told the National Farmers Union conference in Birmingham yesterday: “One thing I can reassure you it will not be the case that we will have zero rate tariffs on products, there will be protections for sensitive sections of agriculture and food production.”

And insider said “everyone agrees” on higher tariffs for certain products but the debate is over the precise level.

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