Lidl tells suppliers they will bear costs of a no-deal Brexit

LIDL, the German discounter, has told British suppliers that it wants them to pay for EU import tariffs to keep shelves stocked in its Irish stores, in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The grocer wrote to suppliers last week checking they would be “delivery duty-paid ready”, meaning sellers would have to foot the bill in a no-deal scenario.

“Lidl obviously believes we will reach that situation, and what it is saying is it wants us to pay the duty,” one supplier told The Sunday Times.

Another said he expected supermarkets to “take us to the precipice and threaten to delist our products” as they negotiate on costs.

While the Government has said it does not want to charge a fee on imports if the UK leaves without a deal, it has no say over tariffs on exports.

Lidl, which has 162 stores in the Republic of Ireland, said it was working with suppliers to tackle any potential supply issues and said all its contracts had a clause about delivery duty.