City AM passes on some fear-mongering:
Food prices will soar on key supermarket items such as mozzarella, tomatoes and apples if the UK does not secure a transitional trade agreement, retail's industry body has warned.
If the EU and the UK fail to agree to maintain current tariff rates, trading of goods will come under the rules governed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This means tariffs on Italian mozzarella and Irish cheddar will jump to 45.5 per cent and 44.1 per cent respectively on the day the UK officially exits the EU.
Ray Symons, head of European and International Affairs at the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said: "If the UK and EU fail to reach an agreement...it is difficult to see how this couldn’t affect shop prices."
Nope.
The WTO does not set minimum or standard tariffs at all, the UK is free to impose lower rates or abolish tariffs unilaterally. The WTO is all about encouraging countries to reduce their import tariffs, abolish import quotas etc.
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