Liz Truss vows to reduce tariffs on British beef and lamb into the USA and Japan

The International Trade Secretary said that reducing tariffs would be the cornerstone of any agreement with the likes of the United States and Japan.

Currently tariffs of up to 26 per cent are paid on British beef and 17 per cent on cheddar cheese entering the US market.

Half of animal and vegetable oils and fats exported to the US from the UK come from Yorkshire and the Humber but British lamb is still currently banned from the US.

Ms Truss told The Yorkshire Post that growing demand from both Japan and the USA for Britain’s high quality and welfare standard meats could be a big boost for the region’s farmers, although she expressed concern about rising protectionism in the wake of the Covid crisis.

Speaking during a visit to Oak House Farm at Green Hammerton, near York, she said: “One really important thing that has changed is that the US has lifted its ban on British beef. We have the first shipments of British beef going over to the US this summer.

“High quality grass-fed products are really popular in the US market, there has been a 15 per cent growth of this type of product in the US market.

“We now have access to the market which means we can sell prime cuts into the US. But in order for farms like this to be able to sell all of their beef we need to get the tariffs reduced.”

Global food supplies were interrupted by the pandemic this year and there have been concerns that nation states may

wish to become more self-sufficient and protectionist when it comes to their supply chains, concerns that Ms Truss said she shared.

“I am very concerned about growing protectionism and the rhetoric we are hearing out of other countries,” she said.

“Britain is a trading nation, nearly 60 per cent of our economy is trade and we benefit hugely from exports. If you look at farming alone in Yorkshire, there is a £169m worth of exports of meat products – that is just one product.

“If you look across the wider economy, whether that is financial services, whether its beer or other major exports from Yorkshire – these are really important, so we don’t want other countries putting up barriers to trade.

“The UK is very committed to free trade because they way we are going to be resilient in the future is not by putting up barriers, it is by working with like-minded allies, whether that is the Australians, the Americans, the Japanese, and of course the EU.”

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Thank you

James Mitchinson