UK drivers face soaring petrol prices thanks to Britain's new trade deal with the US, experts warn
MOTORISTS face soaring petrol prices thanks to Britain's new trade deal with the US, industry leaders and politicians warned today.
The deal, which scraps tariffs on American bioethanol, could cripple the UK's green fuel industry by flooding the market with cheap, subsidised US imports.
Bioethanol is a key component of E10 petrol.
UK producers now say they can't compete on price – and fear being priced out entirely.
If domestic production shuts down, Britain would be left at the mercy of foreign suppliers.
The move would pose a major risk, as seen in 2011 when a US drought dried up ethanol exports.
A similar supply shock – whether from extreme weather, shipping chaos or rising US demand – could leave the UK scrambling to find fuel elsewhere.
Industry chiefs warned that if America's ethanol dries up again, the UK might have to turn to expensive Brazilian imports – or ditch the ethanol blend entirely.
Both options would see prices at the pump rocket or leave drivers more exposed to global oil markets.
Lib Dem trade spokesman Clive Jones slammed the government, saying: 'This is a very worrying prediction for motorists who have already been clobbered by the cost of living crisis.'
He added: 'The government must publish a full impact assessment of its deal with Donald Trump, including any extra costs for motorists.'
Tom Reid of the Renewable Transport Fuel Association warned: 'Scrapping tariffs on bioethanol imported from the US will have dire consequences for the UK bioethanol industry, which will not be able to compete on price against the subsidised American product.
'If the UK plants were to shut down as a consequence of this, it leaves the UK open to fuel security problems in the future, if, for whatever reason, the US stops exporting bioethanol to the UK.
'But by then the damage will have been done, the UK plants will have been scrapped, and we will have to import the bioethanol from somewhere else, which could potentially be very expensive – and it will be UK motorists who end up paying for it.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
41 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
As Labour risks a civil libertires backlash by hinting ID cards are in the pipeline, the party's former Home Secretery argues... All our digital fingerprints are everywhere, so giving a national identity card to every citizen is a no-brainer
Much ink has been spilt over the Labour Government's shelving of the Rwanda deportation plan. This hopelessly impractical and eye wateringly expensive project was to deter the small boat migrants from making the perilous crossing of the Channel, and after much toing and froing between the courts and Parliament, the first deportation flights were scheduled for July 24 last year. However, the General Election intervened and at his first press conference as Prime Minister Keir Starmer witheringly confirmed that the 'gimmick' scheme was 'dead and buried'. Since then – with some 1,200 migrants making it to English shores in one day alone last week – the numbers of people entering the country illegally have ticked up and up. With each day's figures, the supporters of the Tory's Rwanda plan cry: 'I told you so.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
20 years on from the febrile aftermath of London's 7/7 bombings, a heart-stopping minute by minute account of the day Scotland Yard's first ever shoot-to-kill operation ended in the... CATASTROPHIC death of an innocent man
Twenty years ago, London was a city under attack, living on its nerves. Out of the blue that summer of 2005, the capital's transport system was hit by a murderous wave of al-Qaeda bombers, with devastating results. Ordinary folk going about their everyday lives died in the onslaught. Hundreds were mutilated. London knew all about terrorist bombs from years of enduring attacks by various Irish factions. But here was something new to these shores and infinitely more terrifying – the suicide bomber hell-bent on martyrdom. To Commissioner of Police Sir Ian Blair it was a door opening into a new kind of terrorism. 'The IRA and the Loyalists never did anything the size of this. This was a step change.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
The exact amount of money you need for a 'moderate' retirement - so will YOU have enough? Our experts crunch the numbers and reveal how you can hit the goal at any age
Working out if you're on track for the retirement you dream of is essential to avoid running out of cash in older age. But the calculations are far from straightforward. That's why we've called on experts at investment platform AJ Bell to crunch the numbers to find out how much you need to be saving at every age to stand the best possible chance of attaining your ideal retirement.
