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Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why the US trade deal could come with a long-term health cost for the UK
British farmers and food safety campaigners have been sounding the alarm over the recent deal struck between the UK and US. The agreement offers unprecedented access to US agricultural exports such as beef and ethanol into the UK market. While some hailed this as a breakthrough after previous talks stagnated under Joe Biden's administration, critics argue it could undercut domestic producers, introduce lower standards for food and even compromise public health. With the cost of living remaining high, cheaper US imports may look appealing to British consumers. But many fear the products may come at a longer-term cost. The UK government has insisted it will not compromise on standards. Hormone-treated beef and chlorine-washed chicken remain banned. But critics are sceptical. At the White House, US trade officials suggested food rules should be based on science, hinting at renewed pressure to permit products currently excluded by UK law. But public opinion in the UK strongly supports high food standards. Surveys show most UK consumers reject hormone-fed beef and chlorinated chicken, valuing animal welfare and food safety. Given this, any shift toward US-style practices could trigger a backlash. The deal's language – promising to 'enhance agricultural market access' – raises concerns that this may be only the first step. Food safety advocates fear a slow erosion of standards under commercial pressure. Under the terms of the deal, the UK will allow in 13,000 tonnes of US beef tariff-free — a huge change from the 1,000-tonne cap (with a 20% tariff) previously in place. In exchange, the US will grant a matching quota for UK beef. The National Farmers' Union (NFU) welcomed improved US market access. But domestically, many farmers feel exposed. They worry that cheap US beef, even if hormone-free, will undercut UK cattle raised under stricter welfare and environmental rules. Feedlot beef from the American Midwest is typically cheaper, prompting fears of price pressure. The NFU says this could be a 'disaster' for British farming. Supermarkets including Tesco and Sainsbury's say they will continue sourcing 100% British beef, but farmers fear US meat could enter the wholesale and catering sectors. There's also concern about ethanol – a biofuel typically sourced from crops such as corn or wheat and used primarily as a petrol additive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The UK has eliminated a 19% tariff and opened a quota of 1.4 billion litres of US corn ethanol. But this threatens domestic bioethanol plants, which purchase millions of tonnes of British wheat each year for ethanol production. It plays a crucial role in supporting UK arable farming and rural economies. The NFU has warned that this could destabilise farm incomes, reduce local feed supplies and endanger the production of CO², which is used widely in food packaging, refrigeration and the carbonation of drinks across the UK industry. The NFU said the deal overlooked the complex role these plants play in the UK's food system. But cheaper imports could ease grocery bills in the UK, a welcome prospect given food price inflation peaked at more than 19% in 2023. Cheaper beef might help households increase their protein intake. For lower-income families, for example, small savings on staples could really improve nutrition. However, not all cheap calories are healthy. Britons are already encouraged to eat less red meat on health grounds. Increased access to cheaper beef could nudge intakes beyond recommended levels. Restaurateur Henry Dimbleby, the UK government's former food strategy lead, has argued that undermining domestic standards for short-term savings risks health and environmental setbacks. Food safety is another issue. While the government says all imports will meet UK standards, future trade negotiations could challenge that. Country-of-origin labelling and enforcement will be essential for consumer confidence. There's also the risk of more ultra-processed food entering the UK. The deal may increase imports of US cereals, drinks and snack foods. While not inherently unsafe, many health advocates worry about worsening rates of obesity and diabetes if heavily processed products become cheaper and more common in the UK. Trade can bring benefits — but food isn't just another commodity. It intersects with health, environment and rural life. The NFU warns that Britain's high standards shouldn't be quietly traded away under pressure from US agribusiness. The UK government claims it has preserved food protections while expanding trade. What will be key is whether consumers see real savings, as well as whether supermarkets stick to British meat. If not, it remains to be seen whether UK farmers can compete or if they will be squeezed out. Crucially, UK regulators must hold the line if the US pushes harder. A prosperous deal should not just mean more trade — but safer, healthier and fairer food for all. Manoj Dora is a Professor in Sustainable Production and Consumption at Anglia Ruskin University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Leader Live
29-05-2025
- Business
- Leader Live
MP details the Governments strategic agreement with the EU
MP for Clwyd East Following on from recent trade deals struck with the USA and India, the Government has announced a new strategic agreement with the EU which supports jobs, lowers bills and secures our borders. The deal includes a new agreement to make it easier for food and drink to be imported and exported by reducing the red tape that placed burdens on businesses and led to lengthy lorry queues at the border. The EU is the UK's largest trading partner, so after the 21% drop in exports and 7% drop in imports seen since Brexit, the UK will also be able to sell various products, back into the EU again, supporting these vital industries. I'm pleased that this has been welcomed by the business community alongside both the National Farmers' Union and the Farmers' Union of Wales. It also includes measures to enhance our ability to catch dangerous criminals and ensure they face justice more quickly. The UK will enter talks about access to EU facial images data for the first time, on top of the existing arrangements for DNA, fingerprint and vehicle registration data. The Agreement also focuses on further work on finding solutions to tackle illegal migration – including on returns and a joint commitment to tackle channel crossings. The UK and EU have also reached a new twelve-year agreement that protects Britain's fishing access, fishing rights and fishing areas with no increase in the amount of fish EU vessels can catch in British waters, providing stability and certainty for the sector. Another announcement this week, as the Prime Minister has made it clear that, as the economy improves, the Government wants to ensure that more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments. Any changes will be announced as part of a fiscal event, with further details coming forward in due course. This is extremely welcome news and I will be pressing for further details to be released as early as possible. Finally, the assisted dying legislation has begun its Report Stage in the House of Commons. At the end of the debate, which will return on 13 June, I voted for a new clause, which expands the protections to ensure that no person is under any duty to provide assistance to someone to end their life in accordance with the Bill. Essentially meaning that if people, including medical professionals, don't want to be involved, they should not have to be involved. I want to thank every constituent who has fed their views into me over the last few months, either by email or at one of the events I have held around Clwyd East. Please do get in touch:
Time of India
10-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
US-UK tariffs agreement: What you need to know
File Photo: US President Donald Trump with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer What do we know so far? The preliminary deal with the United Kingdom slashes tariffs on British-made cars, eliminates duties on steel and aluminum, and opens the UK market to American farmers. However, the pact, signed at the White House on Thursday, is not the "major trade deal" that Trump touted on social media. A full trade deal takes months or years to negotiate and must be ratified by Congress, which would further extend the timeline. The bilateral agreement is the outline of a limited trade deal that will still need extensive negotiations to finalize. Under the plan, the tariff on British-made cars — the UK's biggest export to the US — will be reduced from 27.5 per cent to 10 per cent. That rule applies to the first 100,000 vehicles imported into the US from the UK, which the government said was around the total number of UK-exported cars. Operation Sindoor 'Pakistan army moving its troops in forward areas': Key takeaways from govt briefing 'Pak used drones, long-range weapons, jets to attack India's military sites' 'Attempted malicious misinformation campaign': Govt calls out Pakistan's propaganda Anything above that figure will face tariffs of 25 per cent. Trump's recently imposed 25 per cent tariff on UK steel and aluminum imports will be cut to zero. The White House statement cited the reason as "the economic security measures taken by the UK to combat global steel excess capacity." Most other UK imports will still face a 10per cent tariff under Trump's reciprocal tariff policy announced last month. The UK agreed to cut the tariff on US ethanol to zero, while US farmers will gain access to the UK market for the first time. However, Britain was able to maintain its ban on US chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-treated beef, amid concerns about welfare and environmental standards. The UK's National Farmers' Union (NFU) warned that easing UK access to US beef and ethanol would disadvantage domestic producers. "Our biggest concern is that two agricultural sectors have been singled out to shoulder the heavy burden of the removal of tariffs for other industries in the economy," said NFU President Tom Bradshaw in a statement. The tariff on UK aircraft parts will be cut to zero, while the pact also closes loopholes, cuts red tape and boosts protection for intellectual property. It creates a secure supply chain for pharmaceutical products and ensures regulatory alignment to streamline trade in this sector. The agreement also includes provisions for digital trade, facilitating smoother cross-border data flows and enhancing cybersecurity cooperation. Was a good deal struck for both sides? Trump said he was "thrilled to announce that we have reached a breakthrough trade deal with the United Kingdom," adding that the agreement included "billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports." The White House said the deal would create a $5 billion (€4.4 billion) opportunity for new US exports, including beef and ethanol. UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer said the limited deal would save jobs in the British auto and steel sectors and was just the beginning of improved trade with the US. The US was Britain's biggest trading partner last year, according to government statistics, though the bulk of Britain's exports to the US are services rather than goods. UK Ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson, who was alongside Trump at the White House, said the deal would prevent imminent layoffs at a Jaguar Land Rover facility in the West Midlands. But US automakers voiced strong opposition, with Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC), saying the deal means "it will now be cheaper to import a UK vehicle with very little US content [parts] than a ... vehicle from Mexico or Canada that is half American parts." US automakers now face 25 per cent tariffs on vehicles assembled in Canada and Mexico. So what happens now? The UK government said the tariff cuts would take effect "as soon as possible." However, the pact is currently just an "agreement in principle" that will need months of detailed negotiations. Outstanding issues on pharmaceuticals, food standards and possibly the UK's digital services tax, which hits US tech giants, will need to be resolved. Any completed deal will need approval by the US Congress, although some parts can be implemented by Trump by executive order. It will also need UK parliamentary scrutiny, and any significant opposition, such as US beef treated with growth hormones, could cause delays. Could the US-UK deal be a roadmap for other countries? The US-UK deal may set the tone for other trading partners to reverse Trump's sweeping tariffs, especially China, whose relations with the Trump administration have hit a new low over tariffs. The US and China are set to meet in Switzerland this weekend, with market watchers hoping for a breakthrough in their standoff. Washington last month raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145 per cent, while Beijing retaliated with 125 per cent tariffs on most US imports. Several other countries, including Japan and Vietnam, have lined up to hold talks with Washington to avert the worst of the duties that range from 10 per cent to 49 per cent, excluding China.
Agriland
09-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
US Secretary of Ag to visit UK next week as farm orgs voice concerns over trade deal
The US Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, has confirmed that she plans to visit the UK next week (May 12-14) as she launches an 'aggressive travel agenda to promote American agriculture worldwide'. According to Secretary Rollins the new US/UK economic deal announced yesterday (May 8) by President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is a 'huge win for American farmers and ranchers'. The US White House fact sheet on the deal outlines that it will 'significantly expand US market access in the UK, creating a $5 billion opportunity for new exports for US farmers, ranchers, and producers'. 'This includes more than $700 million in ethanol exports and $250 million in other agricultural products, like beef, 'the White House stated. The British Prime Minister said the new deal sent 'a message to the world that Britain is open for business'. US deal However it appears not everyone shares his enthusiasm for the new trade deal. The National Farmers' Union (NFU), which represents more than 44,000 farming and growing businesses, has voiced its 'concerns' about the UK's deal with the US, particularly in relation to beef and ethanol quotas. The NFU outlined that the US will have access to the UK beef market through a tariff rate quota of 13,000 tonne (shipped weight) hormone-free beef. While the UK will gain 13,000 tonne of 'ring-fenced access to the US beef market' and the US will have access to 1.4 billion litres duty free ethanol. However the US 10% additional tariff continues to apply on all UK exports to the USA. NFU President Tom Bradshaw said:' 'For several years, we've campaigned with the UK's agricultural attaches in Washington for market access for British beef, a product globally respected for its quality and strong environmental credentials. These efforts have contributed to enabling the UK government to secure ring-fenced access for British beef exports to the US. 'However, the inclusion of a significant volume of bioethanol in the deal raises concerns for British arable farmers. 'We are working through what this means for the viability of the domestic bioethanol production and therefore the potential impact on our members.' Bradshaw said the NFU's biggest concern was that 'two agricultural sectors have been singled out to shoulder the heavy burden of the removal of tariffs for other industries in the economy'. Meanwhile Red Tractor, the UK's largest food chain assurance scheme, today (Friday, May 9) urged the UK government to 'continue to defend UK food standards and farmers' following the new trade deal. Jim Moseley, chief executive of Red Tractor, said that the UK government must also ensure that any products entering the UK market 'do not undercut the high standards of British produce that consumers have come to expect'. 'The standards which farmers and manufacturers produce food to in the UK set us apart from the rest of the world. '75% of UK adults trust the food they buy and eat in the UK, and the main reasons for that are the strong standards and clear labelling policies we have in the UK. 'We cannot risk slipping backwards to a place where customers are not confident in the food they're buying – whether that is food safety, animal welfare or provenance,' Moseley added. Animal welfare Separately the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) also said today that it believes that the 'devil will be in the detail' in relation to the US/UK deal and also sounded a warning that farmers' livelihoods 'could be under threat'. The RSPCA said that there has long been concerns that a trade deal with the USA could 'open the UK food market' to lower welfare produce such as battery caged eggs, sow stall-reared pork, chlorinated chicken, or hormone-treated beef. The RSPCA stated: 'It is illegal to import and use beef produced with hormones or chlorine washed chicken in the UK, while cruel farming practices such as conventional battery egg cage farming and the use of pig sow stalls are banned in the UK. 'However, these methods are commonly used in states across the USA that export animal products and crucially imports of these products are not protected under the current trade rules'. David Bowles, RSPCA head of public affairs, said until it has sight of the full legal text of the agreements, its concerns about the 'potential negative impacts on our animal welfare standards remain'. 'Unless we uphold our own high standards in trade negotiations, we face a race to the bottom, where price, not quality and welfare, influences what ends up on our supermarket shelves. 'Ensuring animal products that are imported to the UK meet our higher welfare standards must be a priority not just for animal welfare reasons but also to protect the integrity of UK food and the commercial viability of UK farming done to higher welfare standards than overseas,' Bowles warned.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
New report raises concerns about price spikes for common food items: 'The price trend is clear'
After many months of extreme temperatures in the United Kingdom, eight common produce items have seen an uptick in pricing of at least 15%. Drought, extreme heat, and floods have increased the price of 10 staple produce items commonly found in U.K. households, reported The i Paper. The produce items most affected are lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, cauliflower, zucchini, onions, and broccoli. Tomatoes and mushrooms have also been affected, but those price increases amounted to only 3.88% and 2.30%, respectively. Five of those foods increased 15% to 20%, while cucumbers increased 27%, carrots increased 34%, and lettuce increased 40%. "British farming has recently been on the front line of climate change with unpredictable extreme weather giving us the wettest 18 months since records began [from September 2022 to March 2024]," Rachel Hallos, the vice president of the National Farmers' Union, told The i Paper. Over the last few years, England has endured its second-worst harvest on record, record-breaking rain in the winter, and 20% heavier rainfall overall. While lettuce has seen its price impacted due to weather conditions in Spain, carrots are the most affected produce item grown in the U.K. "The floods of winter 2023-24 led to our farm losing 15 per cent of our carrot crop – about 4,000 tonnes – and the drought of 2022-23 led to a 20 per cent yield reduction," Rodger Hobson, a Yorkshire carrot farmer and chairman of the British Carrot Growers Association, told The i Paper. Extreme temperatures affect the quality of produce and the quality of life for farmers and workers. In particular, carrots become tougher and less flavorful. Lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and leeks react similarly to high heat. Farmers also see an increase in production costs, labor costs, and storage costs when there is not proper irrigation or the rainfall is too extreme. In addition to affecting agriculture, rising global temperatures and extreme weather disrupt entire ecosystems and their food chains. "The price trend is clear. If harvests continue to be lumpy and we are forced to import more and more vegetables like carrots, we will continue to see higher prices," Sofie Jenkinson, co-director of Round Our Way, said to The i Paper. The weather has been steadier, allowing some produce prices to stabilize for the time being. However, as agriculture is already a low-margin industry, farmers must continue preparing for climate disasters. Do you worry about how much food you throw away? Definitely Sometimes Not really Never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Farmers are also considering alternative ways to ensure their crops do not get destroyed. Some want to improve irrigation, while others are looking into gene editing to improve resilience to extreme temperatures or transitioning to indoor farming. If grocery prices are increasing in your area and you are noticing your household staples go up drastically, consider using a meal plan, buying in bulk, or freezing multiple portions of prepared meals to stretch your dollar. Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more and waste less, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
