27th October 2026
The Government is targeting the cost of everyday essentials with a programme of import tariff reductions covering a surprisingly wide range of products. Marmalade, gherkins, garlic, baked beans, chocolate and sweets are among the familiar items affected, alongside plant-based drinks, agricultural fertilisers and kerosene used for heating.
The policy is part of the Government's wider attempt to ease the cost of living ahead of the Budget. But there is an important question for households: will removing import tariffs make a noticeable difference to the prices on supermarket shelves, or will the savings be difficult to spot?
What goods are affected?
The latest package covers more than 100 products and includes some unexpected items.
Among the products specifically identified are marmalade, citrus jams and pastes, which previously faced a 20 per cent tariff plus a further £19 charge for every 100kg imported. Gherkins faced a 12 per cent tariff, while garlic was subject to an 8 per cent tariff plus £100 per 100kg.
Tariffs have also been suspended on a range of confectionery, including boiled sweets, toffees, caramels, throat pastilles and cough drops. Other products include baked beans, chocolate, chocolate-coated waffles and wafers, and plant-based drinks made from soya, nuts, cereals or seeds.
The package also extends beyond the supermarket. Kerosene, which includes heating oil covered by the relevant import classification, previously faced a 4 per cent tariff. Agricultural fertilisers faced tariffs ranging from 2 per cent to 6.5 per cent, depending on the product.
These are not all the tariff changes made by the Government. An earlier programme covered a wider range of everyday goods, including selected pasta and couscous products, fruit, fruit juices, tuna, cooking oils, nuts, dried fruit, biscuits, crisps and preserved vegetables.
Taken together, the measures are intended to reduce the cost of importing a substantial range of goods and materials used by British households and businesses.
How much could shoppers save?
The Government has estimated that the tariff reductions, combined with earlier suspensions, could save a typical household up to £21 a year on food shopping.
That is a potential saving, rather than a promise that every household will see its bills fall by that amount. The benefit will vary according to what people buy and how much of the tariff reduction is passed through the supply chain.
A tariff is a tax on imported goods. When it is removed, an importer can bring the relevant product into the country more cheaply, assuming other costs remain unchanged.
However, the importer may not pass on the entire saving to a manufacturer or retailer. Manufacturers may have their own processing and distribution costs, while supermarkets must also pay for transport, storage, energy, wages and other expenses.
Retailers ultimately decide what prices to charge. Competition may encourage them to pass on savings, but there is no automatic mechanism requiring every product's shelf price to fall by the full amount of the tariff removed.
For consumers, that distinction matters. A reduction in an import cost is welcome, but it is not the same as a guaranteed reduction in the weekly shopping bill.
Why marmalade matters
Marmalade might seem an odd product to single out in a debate about the cost of living. Yet it illustrates how tariffs can affect everyday goods in ways that are not immediately obvious.
A tariff expressed as a percentage of a product's value is relatively straightforward. An additional charge based on the weight of an imported product can have a particularly significant effect on lower-value goods.
Removing both elements can therefore make a meaningful difference to the cost of importing some products. Whether that becomes a noticeable saving for shoppers depends on the volumes imported, the prices charged by suppliers and the response of retailers.
The same principle applies to products such as garlic and gherkins. These are familiar ingredients, but the charges attached to their importation are less familiar to most shoppers.
A Scottish interest in heating oil
The inclusion of kerosene is particularly relevant to Scotland, where many rural and remote households rely on heating oil rather than mains gas.
A reduction in the applicable import tariff could help reduce one component of the cost of supplying heating oil. It may also benefit businesses that use kerosene in their operations.
But it would be wrong to assume that removing a 4 per cent tariff will automatically produce a 4 per cent reduction in the price paid by a household.
The final price depends on several factors, including the international price of oil, refining costs, transport, distribution, supplier margins and the quantity ordered. Changes in global oil markets can easily outweigh a relatively small reduction in an import charge.
For households in Caithness and other rural parts of Scotland, where heating oil is an important source of warmth, the practical question is whether the tariff change will be reflected in local delivery prices.
Fertiliser tariff reductions could also help agricultural businesses by lowering the cost of certain imported inputs. However, the effect will depend on the products farmers use and the extent to which suppliers pass on the savings.
A welcome step, but not a complete answer
Import tariffs are only one influence on the cost of living. Food prices are also affected by wages, energy, transport, exchange rates, weather, harvests and international commodity markets.
The Government's measures may reduce some costs for importers and businesses, and they could provide a modest benefit to consumers. But they will not, on their own, reverse the pressures that have pushed up household expenditure in recent years.
There is also a wider question about how the savings will be measured. It would be useful to know whether the Government intends to monitor the prices of affected products and publish evidence showing how much of the tariff reductions reaches consumers.
Without such evidence, the policy's success will be difficult to judge by looking at the tariff changes alone.
For now, the prospect of cheaper marmalade, baked beans, chocolate and other everyday products is welcome. But households will judge the policy by what happens at the checkout, not by the number of tariffs removed.
The test is simple: do these changes lead to lower prices in the shops, or do they mainly reduce costs somewhere further up the supply chain? That is the difference between an announcement about cheaper imports and a genuine improvement in the cost of living.