THE Tory Government have been forced to retract their claim that their Brexit agreement will lead to cheaper soy sauce.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) twitter account posted that the ingredient “will be made cheaper thanks to our trade deal with Japan” during Tuesday night’s broadcast of The Great British Bake Off, where it was Japanese week.

But trade experts pointed out that the tariff on soy sauce from Japan is already 0% thanks to a free trade agreement between Tokyo and the EU.

Sam Lowe of Centre for European Reform, described the claim as “naughty”, while opposition politicians said the government’s trade claims were increasingly characterised by “exaggerations and mis-truths”.

David Henig, a trade expert, wrote: “Current tariff on soy sauce entering the UK from Japan – 0%. Tariff on soy sauce entering UK after UK-Japan trade deal – 0%. Not a good look when you can’t trust a government social media account to tell the truth.”

The popular Kikkoman brand is manufactured in the Netherlands and is currently imported to Britain free of any duty. This mean the product could get more expensive in the event of a No-Deal Brexit. 

Other popular brands are made in Wales, as the Welsh MP Anna McMorrin pointed out along with hundreds of others.

On 31 December EU trade deals will stop applying to the UK because of the end of the Brexit transition period.

Labour’s shadow international trade secretary Emily Thornberry said the soy sauce episode was and illustration of a “much bigger problem” with the government’s entire approach to trade.

“For four years, the DIT has been overpromising and underdelivering when it comes to our trade deals, then constantly trying to fill the gap with exaggerations and mistruths,” she said.

The DIT later corrected the tweet, saying: "To clarify: thanks to the UK-Japan trade deal, soya sauce will be cheaper than it otherwise would be under WTO terms, on which we would be trading with Japan from 1 Jan if we had not secured the UK-Japan trade deal."