Today, the government has published the first Trade Strategy since the UK left the EU in 2016.
It focusses on making trade deals faster and more practical for British businesses.
The landmark “Ricardo Fund” will “unlock” £5 billion from foreign trade deals by helping UK firms navigate foreign regulations and standards that make overseas business more difficult.
The existing UK Export Finance credit agency will recieve a funding boost of £20 billion to a total of £80 billion. This will be used to create a new “Small Exports Builder” to give smaller firms access to export protections insurance as well as to improve existing financing opportunities to streamline repeat purchases from trusted UK suppliers.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “Today’s Trade Strategy is a promise to British business: Helping firms sell more, grow faster, and compete globally.”
The strategy also outlines new trade defence mechanisms that will “guard British businesses against global turbulence and the growing threat of unfair trading practices” by making the British Trade Remedies Authority more agile, assertive and accountable.
The UK will also be joining the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA) which will allow UK firms to resolve trade disputes more efficiently with the World Trade Organisation.
Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “The UK is an open trading nation but we must reconcile this with a new geopolitical reality and work in our own national interest
“Our Trade Strategy will sharpen our trade defence so we can ensure British businesses are protected from harm, while also relentlessly pursuing every opportunity to sell to more markets under better terms than before.
“Broad and complex trade deals like we secured with India will bring billions to our economy every year but to deliver the Plan for Change we will strike more agile, targeted deals that exploit the sectors which drive the most growth for our economy.”
The Trade Strategy follows three major trade deals signed with the US, India and the EU, with PM Keir Starmer saying: “I’ve backed British industry through global headwinds—securing major trade deals with the US, India and the EU that protect jobs and drive growth right across the country.
“Today’s Trade Strategy is a promise to British business: helping firms sell more, grow faster, and compete globally. It’s about delivering growth as part of our Plan for Change—and making sure working people feel the benefits.”
Workers will also benefit from increased recognition of UK qualifications and certificates abroad, making UK workers more competitive in global labour markets.
Ian Stuart, CEO of HSBC UK, said: “I welcome today’s announcement of the Trade Strategy. It provides a vital blueprint to ensure the UK’s continued role as a great trading nation and leading services exporter, with a focus on the sectors that will drive growth in the decades to come.
“It also rightly recognises the challenges many exporters face at a time of heightened global uncertainty.
“This is a necessary first step in giving businesses the tools they need to thrive on the world stage. HSBC looks forward to supporting businesses to take advantage of the strategy and unlock the full benefits of international trade.”
The Strategy is also intended to bring trade policy in line with Labour’s green ambitions, with new agreements and greater collaboration being planned with Brazil, the Phillippines and Mexico, and improved clean energy agreements being made with existing partners like Norway, Japan and South Korea
Speaking on the strategy, Trade Minister Douglas Alexander said: “This new hard-headed, data driven, and agile approach to trade policy is guided by our pragmatic patriotism. In this changed and challenging world, we will promote what we can and protect what we must to advance the UK’s national interest.
“Through our Trade Strategy, we are supporting our businesses to expand and export with a wider range of trade tools that harness our high-growth industries of the future.
“As we target these agreements, we will take every step necessary to safeguard British businesses from the increasingly protectionist mood in much of the world by sharpening our defensive toolkit.”
The full Trade Strategy will be published here at 09:15 Thursday 26 June.
Featured image via Simon Dawson / No 10.
