Sainsbury's urges UK government to close 'de minimis' duty loophole

The British government should move at pace to end a duty exemption which allows shipments worth up to 135 pounds ($179) to be imported from overseas without incurring customs duty, the boss of supermarket Sainsbury's said on Thursday.

Britain's retail industry has expressed concern about the risk of lower quality goods being rerouted from the United States to Europe as a result of President Donald Trump's tariffs and wants the government to review the so-called "de minimis" rules.

Sainsbury's CEO Simon Roberts called on the government to act as soon as possible, echoing comments from retailers including electricals chain Currys.

"Everyone should pay their tax ... So if there's a loophole here which means that's not happening then that needs to be closed so it's a level playing field for everybody," he told reporters after Sainsbury's, which owns the Argos general merchandise business, reported annual results.

About a quarter of Sainsbury's sales are from non-food products versus about 7% for rival Tesco , making it more vulnerable to any knock-on effects on global shipping from the hike in U.S. tariffs.

Roberts said Sainsbury's was watching the tariff developments closely but stressed the group was "pretty well versed in navigating these kind of challenges", having gone through the COVID pandemic, fallout from the Ukraine/Russia war and the Red Sea crisis.