Reeves: We need global trade to provide security, stability, and prosperity for businesses and working people

From Washington, the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will advocate for working people and businesses by calling for a global trade system that provides security and stability.

At the International Monetary Fund's biannual meeting today (Thursday, 24 April), the Chancellor will urge national leaders to tackle excessive global trade imbalances, reduce barriers to trade, and promote strong multilateral institutions.

This will help create a global trade system that provides security for working people, stability for businesses, and prosperity for national economies in a world that has changed - all of which are key to growth, which is the priority in our Plan for Change.

To spearhead this drive for reform, the Chancellor will hold talks with counterparts in Washington about the reform agenda ahead of upcoming meetings of the G7 and IMF later this year.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to say:

“I am proud that the UK has its global, open reputation, and it is one I want to strengthen.

“But the world has changed and so must we. We are in a new era of global trade. And in that new era, we need a system that provides security for working people, stability for businesses, and prosperity for national economies.

“To deliver this, we need to do three things: tackle excessive global trade imbalances, reduce barriers to trade, and promote strong multilateral institutions.”

This follows calls earlier this week from the Chancellor in Washington to build an economy that will ‘make, sell and buy more in Britain' and plans to maintain a level playing field for British business to mitigate the impacts of practices such as potential future ‘dumping' of cheap goods into the UK.

This covered government plans for the Trade Remedies Authority to improve its monitoring of emerging risks from potential import surges and trade deflection, and to cut the time it takes to carry out investigations and support businesses.

The Chancellor also announced her intention to review the customs treatment of Low Value Imports, which allows goods valued at £135 or less to be imported without paying customs duty.