Today (Thursday 20 July) the International Trade Secretary,
, flies to Geneva to deliver a key
note speech at the Graduate Institute, to set out the
opportunities for the global economy from trade after the UK
leaves the EU.
In a speech entitled ‘Beyond Brexit: Britain and the Global
Economy’ Dr Fox will call for further liberalisation of the
services economy and for a rejection of protectionism, and also
outline that Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are not the only way to
remove impediments to trade.
Research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) shows that protectionist measures have grown
since the financial crisis of 2008. By 2010, G7 and G20 countries
were estimated to be operating some 300 non-tariff barriers to
trade – by 2015 this had risen to over 1,200.
International Trade Secretary, , will say:
For the United Kingdom, the future of global trade will be
shaped by the digital economy, by the promotion of trade as the
main tool of development, and by unlocking the vast potential
of the trade in services.
That is why it is so concerning to hear the voices of
protectionism growing louder. Those who have benefitted most
from an open, liberal trading environment have a duty to ensure
that others are able to take advantage of the same benefits in
the future.
During the visit Dr Fox will meet with Roberto Azevedo, the
Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), to discuss the
next WTO Ministerial
Conference, digital trade and the wider global free trade agenda.
They will also discuss WTO ‘schedules’ - the UK’s
legally binding tariffs and levels of market access for trade in
goods and services.
The UK wants to see modern and ambitious digital provisions in
trade, including around e-commerce, data and telecommunications.
Digital sectors contributed £118 billion to the economy in 2015
and exports of digital goods and services now amount to around
£50 billion.
The visit comes as new statistics out
yesterday showed the Department for International Trade
supported £41.6 billion in exporting opportunities last year,
creating 91,000 jobs and helping over 2,800 UK businesses to sell
their products or services abroad for the first time. However,
only around 11% of UK firms currently export and the government
is hoping to support more exports by reconvening the Board of
Trade and launching a network of trade commissioners.
The Board of Trade is specifically charged with ensuring that
there is an increase in exports from Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland as well as England, so that the benefits of trade are
felt by the whole Union. The first meeting of the Board of Trade
will be later this year.
World Trade Organization
The WTO was established in
1994 as an international body to regulate trade and encourage
nations to agree to adhere to the principle of ever-greater
trading freedom.
As a founding member, on leaving the EU the UK will need to
update the terms of WTO membership where, at
present, all of the country’s commitments are applied through the
EU as a whole. The process will mean ‘technical rectification’,
by simply replicating current obligations, is the most simple and
straightforward solution, and will cause the minimum disruption
to trade.