The UK government admits that post-Brexit trade deals include clauses that could prevent companies benefitting from freeport tax breaks, affecting business worth up to £35bn annually.
Rollover free trade deals signed with 23 countries as part of the UK’s post-Brexit trade deal include clauses that exclude manufacturers benefitting from freeport tax breaks, shutting the UK out of markets worth up to £35bn a year, according to the Labour Party.
The opposition claims that trade ministers failed to remove ‘duty exemption prohibitions’, which mean businesses that have not paid import duties cannot benefit from reduced tariffs on exports. This could affect freeports announced as part of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s 2020 Budget in East Midlands Airport, Felixstowe and Harwich, Humber, Liverpool City Region, Plymouth, the Solent, the Thames and Teesside.