UK Government Announces new Trade Strategy

Following the wider Industrial Strategy which was announced at the beginning of the week (23rd June), the UK Government have now released their new Trade Strategy.    

As an overview of the 100-page document, we’ve outlined below some of the key considerations and points for businesses: 

• UK Export Finance will see their funding raised from £60bn to £80bn, as well as the creation of clearer online routes into UKEF in order to make their offering more accessible 

  
  

• The Government aims to modernise and simplify their export support services in order to tackle feedback that the “advice offered on the government’s website is hard to find, cumbersome to navigate, and sometimes short on information”.  The Government hopes that a new and “consistently digital-first approach” will make advice more accessible and easier to understand 

  
  

• Build upon the digital documentation improvements (including the fact that they now have the same legal standing as their paper-based alternatives) by creating Digital Trade Corridors with some European markets in the first instance.  The Government will also look to develop a new programme to help smaller businesses take advantage of the paperless documentation 

  
  

• The launch of the ‘Riccardo Fund’, which the Government states will unlock up to £5bn of export opportunities over a five-year period

  
  

• Later this year, the Government will be launching a new Business Growth Service, which will integrate the export services for SMEs as well as other business support services and packages

  
  

• Improve the Government’s understanding and messaging on EU legislation changes in order to help UK businesses understand the implications 

  
  

• Look to amend and improve the current Trade Remedies system by making it easier for SMEs to access, more accountable to the government, and creating a more “assertive approach” within the TRA.  It is hoped that these steps will help protect UK businesses from international unfair practices like dumping 

  
  

• A continuing push to sign either new or improved free trade agreements with countries across the globe, as well as smaller, and more specific, agreements which still improve our trading relationship (for example, the outcomes from the UK-EU Summit) 

  
  

• The government will “pursue more Mutual Recognition Agreements” with a specific focus on countries and sectors that have the most potential to boost growth. 

What Have People Said About the New Trade Strategy? 

Though it is still too early to get a reaction from individual businesses, the Business & Trade Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, stated that: 

“Our Trade Strategy will sharpen our trade defence...while also relentlessly pursuing every opportunity to sell to more markets under better terms than before”. 

On behalf of businesses generally, the Director General at the British Chamber of Commerce, Shevaun Haviland, said “the Trade Strategy sets out a clear, evidence-based approach to raising the UK’s export game” and that it “rightly targets our strength in services, and vital high-growth goods sectors”.