Brexit: Government publishes new UK Global Tariff
Thursday, 21 May 2020
The Government has announced the UK’s new MFN tariff regime, the UK Global Tariff (UKGT). This will replace the EU’s Common External Tariff on 1 January 2021 at the end of the Transition Period.
The UKGT will apply to all goods imported into the UK unless:
- an exception applies, such as a relief or tariff suspension
- the goods come from countries that are part of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences
- the country you’re importing from has a trade agreement with the UK
It only shows the tariffs that will be applied to goods at the border when they’re imported into the UK.
Following consultation on the scheme the UK government has agreed to several changes, removing taxes of less than 2%, rounding tariffs down to the nearest standardised band, removing tariffs for 2,900 product lines and removing tariffs where the UK has zero or limited domestic production.
Chapter 39 is the chapter most relevant to BPF members, there’s a useful search tool where you can search for items based on either their product name or commodity code, to view it please click here. You can download Chapter 39 in its entirety here or use the search function for particular products.
To give a brief example of some plastic products in chapter 39, some key raw materials and their tariff rates can be viewed in the table below. The rates are either unchanged (i.e. same as the common external tariff rate); simplified (i.e. rounded) or liberalised (i.e. tariffs removed):
| Commodity Code | Description | Common External Tariff | UK Global Tariff | Change |
| 3907 40 00 | Polycarbonates, in primary forms | 6.5% | 6.0% | Simplified |
| 3901 10 90 | Polyethylene with a specific gravity of < 0,94, in primary forms (excl. linear polyethylene) | 6.5% | 6.0% | Simplified |
| 3901 10 10 | Linear polyethylene with a specific gravity of < 0,94, in primary forms | 6.5% | 6.0% | Simplified |
| 3907 20 11 | Polyethylene glycols, in primary forms | 6.5% | 0.0% | Liberalised |
| 3902 10 00 | Polypropylene, in primary forms | 6.5% | 6.0% | Simplified |
| 3904 10 00 | Poly"vinyl chloride", in primary forms, not mixed with any other substances | 6.5% | 6.0% | Simplified |
| 3907 69 00 | Poly"ethylene terephthalate", in primary forms, having a viscosity number of < 78 ml/g | 6.5% | 6.0% | Simplified |
| 3906 61 00 | Poly"ethylene terephthalate", in primary forms, having a viscosity number of >= 78 ml/g | 6.5% | 6.0% | Simplified |
To find out more about the UK Global Tariff, please click here.
