Daniel Schmidt 
CBP told the Court of International Trade on September 15 that CAPE Phase 3, covering finally liquidated IEEPA entries, will deploy on October 6, 2026. Only plaintiffs with a court-ordered reliquidation can file, and $1.3 billion in approved refunds remains stuck for missing bank details.
The British Independent Retailers Association is pressing Chancellor John Healey to restore the 75% retail rates discount and double the Employment Allowance at the 28 October Budget. We set out the six asks, the 2026/27 multipliers and what a typical shop’s bill looks like under each scenario.
The John Lewis Partnership has opened 10,400 seasonal roles for Christmas 2026, a quarter fewer than last year, paying £13.00 to £14.80 an hour. Here is where the jobs are, how the pay compares with the legal minimum, and what the smaller call signals for the golden quarter.
Tesco has banned or restricted 114 additives across its own-brand ranges, up from 65 a year ago, barring artificial colours, aspartame and MSG outright. The UK’s largest grocer says 81% of its customers are trying to cut ultra-processed food, and it has added a no-additives filter to its online shop.
John Lewis Partnership’s first-half loss before exceptionals more than doubled to £89m as department store sales fell 2% and costs climbed, while Waitrose grew 4%. The employee-owned group is spending £600m this year and says it is cautious on the second half.
Currys reported group like-for-like sales up 7% in the 17 weeks to 29 August 2026, its first update under chief executive Fredrik Tønnesen, and held full-year profit guidance at £199 million. The shares slipped as investors waited for the Christmas peak.
The Justice Department has expanded its beef antitrust investigation from meatpackers to eight of the largest US grocery retailers, seeking pricing, cost and margin data covering 2020 to 2026. No retailer has been accused of wrongdoing.
Canada’s counter-tariffs on United States goods take effect at 12:01 a.m. on September 8, applying 15%, 25% or 50% by tariff item across roughly CAD 27.6 billion of imports. The CAD 150 courier de minimis threshold offers no protection, because the surtax attaches to classification rather than shipment value.
Four US retail earnings reports in ten days of August 2026 booked a tariff refund and immediately named fuel and energy as the offset. The pattern suggests energy displaces tariffs as the quantified cost headwind in Q3 guidance issued November 17 to December 4, 2026.
The EU’s Union handling fee is likely to be set by delegated act in September or October and applied by November 1, 2026, landing inside peak season alongside mandatory Product Identifiers. Three signals point to the direct-from-China parcel lane shrinking through Q4 while EU-local fulfillment absorbs the volume by Q1 2027.