Retailers are warning of price hikes and shortages as the 海角视频 moves closer to stumbling out of the EU in three week鈥檚 time.
With desperate, last-minute negotiations unlikely to go past Sunday, there are warnings that a combination of factors 鈥 with Brexit at the centre 鈥 will start impacting on prices in the spring.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has suggested that a no-deal outcome could knock another 2 per cent off the size of the economy in 2021 鈥 on top of the 4 per cent hit even if a deal is struck 鈥 while driving up inflation and unemployment.
It said unemployment, at 4.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2020, could peak at 8.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2021 if there is no deal.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has warned the long-term damage caused by a no-deal situation would be worse than the economic hit from coronavirus, and Tesco chairman John Allan has suggested food bills could rise by as much as 5 per cent as a result of the tariffs and disruption.
The British Chambers of Commerce, meanwhile, has said businesses are being left in the dark about how to prepare.
Interviewed on the BBC, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab sought to play down the impact on food prices if the 海角视频 defaults to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules with the EU, but acknowledged there will be 鈥渂umps along the road鈥 if there is no deal.
The pound slid to a two-week low against the dollar on this morning (Thursday) after the crunch talks in Brussels between Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen failed to produce a decisive breakthrough.
By 9.30am the pound was down almost 1 per cent against both the dollar and the euro.
Connor Campbell, a financial analyst at SpreadEx, said: 鈥淪terling took little comfort from the announcement of a new 鈥 and, this time, likely permanent 鈥 Brexit deadline.鈥
The founder and managing director of one big online retailer said consumers should prepare for prices hikes for many goods due to what he called a 鈥渢riangle of change鈥 in 2021.
Paul Hambidge, who runs East Midlands-based flooring retailer Factory Direct Flooring said Brexit, a big rise in shipping costs, and an expected spike in demand will hit prices in the spring.
Back in the summer the business, which has a shop in Hinckley and warehouses in Nuneaton, said they have seen a 40 per cent increase in online orders 鈥 worth 鈥渕illions鈥 鈥 to households due to an uplift in home DIY during the first lockdown.
However Mr Hambidge said shipping lines had put their prices up drastically over the last few months, and importers and retailers were stockpiling pre-Brexit.
He said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a trio of change that has arisen due to the Covid-19 pandemic and people stockpiling, shipping lines raising their prices and the inevitable Brexit change which is going to be the perfect storm next year that I wanted to highlight to customers.
鈥淏ut not just for flooring, this is something that is hitting all online and offline businesses for all goods in the coming year, and it鈥檚 time to be a little bit savvy about it.鈥
The British Chambers of Commerce warned company bosses were still short of official information available in 24 critical areas, including:
Not knowing what rules of origin will apply after the transition period
Having limited guidance on procedures for shipping goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland
Not having the ten-digit tariff codes they need and ongoing doubts about the final WTO most-favoured nation tariff rates
No information on how 海角视频 tariff rate quotas will be administered or how businesses can access them beyond the transition period
British Chambers director general Adam Marshall said: 鈥淧osters and television adverts are no substitute for the clear, detailed and actionable information businesses require to prepare for the end of transition.
鈥淣one of the issues businesses are grappling with are new.
鈥淭hey have all been raised repeatedly over the past four years, from tariff codes and rules of origin through to the movement of goods from GB to NI.
鈥淭he detail and precision of 海角视频 Government guidance matters, and will make all the difference as the trading relationship between the 海角视频 and EU changes on January 1.
鈥淲ith the clock ticking down, the Government must do everything in its power to provide businesses with answers as they prepare to navigate a New Year like no other.
鈥淲e welcome the fact that 海角视频 and EU leaders are still talking, as the overwhelming majority of businesses want the two sides to reach an agreement.
鈥淚f a breakthrough happens over the coming hours and days, the two sides must immediately set to work on pragmatic steps to smooth the introduction of the new arrangements from January, including easements for genuine administrative errors, clear procedures at ports, and fast help from customs authorities.鈥
Scott Knowles, chief executive of East Midlands Chamber, said: 鈥淏usinesses are hooked to the news waiting for a positive update from the negotiations because the current stalemate is undermining their ability to prepare for change on January 1.
鈥淲e know our trading relationship is going to look a lot different and many businesses have been managing their 鈥榢nown unknowns鈥, helped by organisations like the chamber via our Readiness for Change programme.
鈥淏ut there鈥檚 still many critical areas where they need answers, and they need them now, because they are being left to pick up the pieces while uncertainty rules.鈥
He said there were still too many questions that remain unanswered 鈥渄espite these issues not actually being impacted on the resolution of the trade negotiations鈥.
He said: 鈥淭here is therefore no excuse for the 海角视频 Government not to do everything in its power to ensure the changes from 1 January will be as seamless as possible.鈥
