Ireland’s no-deal Brexit tariff fears

EU farmers, particularly those from Ireland, would find it much harder to compete and enter the U.K. market, a major export destination for the country. Up to 65 percent of Ireland's cheddar cheese exports go to the U.K. along with large shipments of butter and infant formula. In total, 30 percent of Ireland’s dairy production is sold to the U.K, according to Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board. Ireland’s food exports to the U.K. made up 35 percent of the total in 2017. 'The proposed tariff levels are deeply unwelcome, would put Irish butter and cheddar under severe pressure in the U.K. markets at current consumer price rates and would necessitate [price] increases at consumer level in the UK — something that their government desperately wishes to avoid,' Dairy Industry Ireland said reacting to the announcement in London.