Manufacturers have warned that Andy Burnham's tariff cuts will have no meaningful impact on prices while putting British baked beans under threat. Labour committed to suspending import tariffs on more than 100 products, including imported chocolate, marmalade and baked beans, in Wednesday's Budget.
Chancellor John Healey said the measure would help households struggling with the cost of living by slashing up to £21 off a household's annual shop. However, manufacturers warn that the measure will come at the cost of British manufacturers, such as those producing baked beans, as cheap exports from the US and China could undermine the country's major bean-processing industry.
Industry warnings over tariff impact
A spokesman for the Princes Group, which makes Branston baked beans and employs around 2,000 UK staff, said: "Based on our understanding of the proposals so far, removing tariffs on imported finished baked beans is unlikely to have a meaningful impact on prices, particularly as there are currently no tariffs on the imported haricot beans used by UK manufacturers and no tariffs on EU imports."
The spokesman added: "We believe measures that help address the higher costs of manufacturing food in the UK, particularly energy costs, would have a greater impact for both consumers and British businesses," reports The Telegraph.
Heinz is another major employer, with 850 staff at its plant in Wigan, Greater Manchester, producing 1.5 million tins a day.
FDF criticises Budget measures
Karen Betts, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), said Mr Healey's Budget had done "nothing to ease the pressures food and drink manufacturers are under". She said the flagship announcement will have "no meaningful impact on consumer prices", but it would undermine factories as they grapple with higher costs to produce the same products.
"Food and drink manufacturing should be central to the Government's growth and reindustrialisation agenda," said Ms Betts. "But time and again, we are treated as an afterthought.
"The Treasury, in particular, has persistently failed to recognise the importance of food and drink manufacturing to jobs and prosperity across the length and breadth of the UK."
The FDF said that confectioners Nestle in York and Halifax could be impacted, as well as Haribo in Bradford, and Cadbury in Bournville.
Government defends consumer benefits
The Government said the tariff suspensions, along with others announced earlier this year, will save households up to £21 on their annual food shop. Labour said it recognised there "may be some limited impacts on domestic producers of goods", but said it "considers the benefits of this to consumers, through reduced costs, outweigh those risks".
