International Trade Secretary will tomorrow give a keynote speech
setting out the next phase of the UK's trade strategy that will
help level up every region of the UK.
In a speech to the Policy Exchange thinktank, Truss will set out
the next phase of the UK’s trade strategy and explain why it is
time to “move from defence to offence in trade” in order to drive
a free trade revival in regions outside London and deliver the
Government’s levelling up agenda.
She will set out how her Department will target trade deals with
the fastest-growing parts of the global economy and ramp up
support for exporters to help them seize new opportunities. She
will say “the status quo is not an option”, and outline how her
trade policy will open new trade routes beyond Europe.
The UK is already making significant headway in building more
successful trade routes with the largest growing economies in the
Indo-Pacific. The UK has already launched negotiations to join
one of the world’s largest free trade areas, the Trans-Pacific
Partnership, and will shortly kickstart negotiations with India,
as well as Mexico and Canada.
The scale of the future opportunities is laid bare in a new
report published by the Department for International Trade - the
Global Trade Outlook – which identifies two major trends that
underpin the UK’s strategic approach:
1) The centre of global economic gravity is moving away
from Europe and towards the Indo-Pacific.
By 2030, 3 of the 4 largest economies in the world will be in the
Indo-Pacific region. The region will account for 56% of global
GDP growth and 44% of global import demand growth over the next
thirty years.
2) Global demand for industries where Britain prospers is
set to boom:
Demand for UK high-value industries such as digital and financial
services will double in the next decade with demand for digital
services expected to grow by 117%.
Ahead of the speech ,
International Trade Secretary, said:
In order to seize the opportunities of the future, we need to
grow trade with the fastest-growing parts of the world while
turbocharging digital and services commerce – which is exactly
what we’re doing.
We are building a global network of next generation trade deals
that are advanced in services and digital trade, and forging
closer economic ties with markets in East Asia and the
Asia-Pacific.
We know the demand for high-quality British goods and services
exists, and is growing, therefore we need to ready British
businesses for export and bolster inward investment across the
country; creating new jobs, business and growth.
With just 1 in 10 British firms currently selling overseas, the
International Trade Secretary wants to encourage more to export
and make exporting the “norm for UK businesses”.
“The path to economic revival does not lie in retreating and
retrenching,” she will argue, “but in free trade and free
enterprise. British employers can only benefit from free trade by
selling their products, innovation, capital, and ideas overseas”.
Recent research shows trade disproportionately benefits consumers
on the lowest incomes, as tradable goods and services are
disproportionately consumed by those less well-off.
DIT is stepping up its export support across the country via its
UK Trade and Investment offices and new Export Support Service.
It is also attracting the world’s top investors, via the Office
for Investment and the UK’s first Global Investment Summit.
Truss believes the UK’s forward-looking, liberalising trade
strategy will lead to British businesses becoming high-wage,
high-growth and high-productivity, which will drive the UK’s
future economic success in the industries and economies of
tomorrow.
