THE UK government, as part of its ‘No Deal Brexit’ import tariff plans, originally slapped a 22% hike on all trucks coming into Britain. This has been subsequently dropped either 16% or 10%, no one seems sure, however the trade associations want the tariff scrapped.
FTA’s deputy CEO James Hookham said, ‘There should be no additional financial penalty on buying new vehicles. At a time when vehicle operators are under massive pressure to use newer, cleaner vehicles, operators need incentives to replace trucks quicker, not penalties to hinder their purchase.
‘This is a tax on quality. New trucks are the cleanest and safest ever and the government wants to increase their price by three times the rate of inflation. Ministers need to join the dots on their strategies to improve air quality in towns and cities and the costs they are imposing on truck operators because of Brexit.
RHA chief executive, Richard Burnett commented: ‘Government is already forcing hauliers to upgrade their vehicles halfway through their working lifecycle to meet new clean air rules. These tariffs will see consumers facing higher prices in the shops as operators’ margins are squeezed even tighter.’
However, observations within the road haulage industry suggested that, now that an increasing number of trucks are acquired through asset finance, the total cost of ownership of a new vehicle could see the tariff increase drop considerably in trading terms.
