Government proposals for import costs to be applied on low value and individual items would disproportionately impact SMEs and should be rethought, East Midlands Chamber has said, in response to findings from British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) research.
Charges, for proposed implementation in 2029, would result from removal of the UK’s tariff exemption on low value imports. The EU has said it may follow the US which removed its ‘de minimis’ exemption on import costs in 2025. The exemption allows goods under a certain value to enter the country without duties applied. A UK Government consultation on the proposals ended on 6th March.
British Chambers of Commerce survey findings revealed that more than half of UK goods importers would pass on import costs to customers, if charges were between 5 and 10% on small shipments. Alongside either raising prices or absorbing costs, 21% of firms said they would switch suppliers and 20% would consolidate shipments to reduce duty impact, while a further 12% would scale down activity.
East Midlands Chamber Head of International Trade Lucy Granger said: “Any new costs to be covered by exporters mean additional burden for them and would add to pressure on them to consider price increases. For small and medium sized businesses, removing the exemption on low value items would bring disproportionate pain, especially if costs are applied to individual items and then there’s the risk of those charges creeping up and inflating over time.
“Without an exemption in place, those firms using e-commerce to ship individual items could suddenly find simple, individual shipments become so expensive that they think twice about the extent to which they want to bring goods in and that’s not a comfortable situation to be in.
“I’d urge Government to re-think proposals so that small and medium sized businesses that import goods are not presented with a barrier to growth.”
