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Following the end of the Transition Period, the UK has established its independent tariff regime, including its duty suspensions regime.

To guide the UK’s suspensions regime, the Department for International Trade (DIT) is launching a process that will allow those based in the UK or Crown Dependencies to apply for duty suspensions. This year, you will be able to apply from 1 June until 11.55pm on 31 July.

Duty suspensions are temporary reductions in the UK Global Tariff rate for specific products.

They are designed to allow UK and Crown Dependency businesses, and in particular producers, to remain competitive in the global marketplace.

DIT has now published information about the application process and the assessment criteria on GOV.UK, alongside the application form you will need to complete to submit a request.

We will publish a notice of the applications received once the application window has closed. UK businesses will then be given the opportunity to object to any requests. The window for submitting objections will open later this year. More information will be provided on GOV.UK in due course.

Once we have received all applications and objections, the merits of these will be assessed based on the criteria outlined on GOV.UK, as well as other relevant considerations – examples of which are included in the guidance section of the application form.

Any duty suspension requests that are granted will come into effect no earlier than early 2022 and will last until summer 2024. Once granted, all businesses can benefit from the suspension.

If you have any questions about the application process, please contact: TariffSuspensions@trade.gov.uk