In line with yesterday’s Autumn Budget announcement, BIFA has issued the following statement.
The Budget contains a mix of measures that offer both modest support and serious cause for concern for the freight and international-trade community. On the positive side, the retention of the 5p fuel duty cut until August 2026 and the business investment incentives (such as full-expensing of capital investments) provide a small window of relief and opportunity for investment in fleet renewal and supply-chain infrastructure.
Moreover, the Government’s decision to abolish the “de minimis” threshold — removing the exemption for low-value imports under £135 — levels the playing field for UK businesses who have long competed with low-cost online sellers disproportionately benefiting from the loophole.
The additional financial support and targeted trade infrastructure package for Northern Ireland firms, including the new “Internal Market Package” to help businesses trade smoothly between Northern Ireland and Great Britain — is also welcome. It offers much-needed support to firms still managing the challenges posed by post-Brexit trading arrangements.
At the same time, whilst the elimination of the de minimis relief could bring new business for BIFA members that offer customs processing services, it could also increase customs duties, imports costs and border-processing burdens — which may create short-term disruption for some freight and parcel operators, and add complexity to small-parcel logistics. So BIFA welcomes that this is being delayed until 2029, which gives the trade association’s members and the business community they serve, time to prepare.
We also note the changes under the new SPS (sanitary & phytosanitary) agreement with the EU / within the UK market, which are expected to reduce red tape on food, agricultural and other regulated goods — potentially speeding up cross-border freight and lowering compliance costs for businesses operating complex supply-chains.
However, BIFA remains deeply worried about the planned gradual reversal of the fuel-duty cut from September 2026. This will significantly raise operating costs for haulage and freight firms just as many are still recovering from recent economic pressures.
More broadly, the wider tax increases and freezes on personal allowances, combined with projected rises in employer costs, risk depressing consumer demand and increasing downstream cost pressures — which may reduce trade volumes and intensify margin pressure across the freight sector.
BIFA welcomes the fact that time has been provided to prepare for some of the changes and stands ready to work with the Government to ensure that the new measures introduced in the Budget can be accommodated into the business plans of the trade-association’s members as effectively as possible.
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