UK mid-market braces for tariff impact

Over half of UK mid-market businesses have said that they expect to be directly affected ‘to a significant extent’ by the US Government tariffs, according to the latest survey from accountancy and business advisory firm BDO.

Its survey of 500 mid-market businesses conducted between 24 March and 2 April - before the US administration’s tariff announcement - shows that businesses were realistic about the possible impact of the policy change, with 54% saying they expected to be directly affected ‘to a significant extent’ while 45% said ‘to some extent’.

Just one per cent of surveyed businesses said they didn’t expect to be affected by very much. No respondents said they would not be affected.

Manufacturing businesses were most concerned about the impact of tariffs, with 65% saying they feared a ‘significant’ impact. This was followed by technology firms (61%) and retail (58%).

Matthew Clark, an international trade partner at BDO said: ‘Mid-market businesses have clearly seen the writing on the wall and have braced themselves for the impact of the US administration’s tariff policies.

“However, this doesn’t mean that they are all prepared. Some UK companies will urgently need to take proactive measures to confirm the correctness of their goods classification and to verify the true country of origin for the goods they export into the US. Supply chains can often be complex – for example, Chinese goods are often trans-shipped via other countries to the US but they remain of Chinese origin and would be subject to the tariff levels being placed on Chinese goods.

“Longer term, many businesses will need to consider supply chain and wider operational footprint changes – such as changing the territory of sourcing and/or the location of their manufacturing operations.”

ENDS

Note to editors

About BDO 
BDO LLP operates in 18 offices across the UK, employing 8,000 people. It has UK revenues of £1bn.

It provides Audit, Tax, Deals, and Consulting, Risk & Outsourcing services predominantly to mid-sized, entrepreneurially-spirited, high-growth businesses that are driving growth in the UK economy. BDO calls this segment of the market the UK’s economic engine.

BDO LLP is the UK member firm of the BDO international network.

BDO’s global network
The BDO global network provides business advisory services in 166 countries and territories, with more than 119,000 people working out of 1,800 offices worldwide. It has revenues of US$15bn.

Contacts

Frank Shepherd
frank.x.shepherd@bdo.co.uk 
07812 463601