Minister for Trade (): I am pleased to
announce that today, 26th June, the Department of
Business and Trade has published ‘The UK's Trade Strategy'
setting out the Government's plan to maximise trade opportunities
to support growth.
Following the publication of the Government's Industrial Strategy
on Monday, 23rd June, which catalyses 10 years of
sustained economic growth in our most important sectors and their
supply chains and workforces, the Trade Strategy positions the UK
to address the international environment and to be a key
influencer on the world stage using free trade, whilst also
reflecting the needs of British Businesses in a changing world.
This Government was elected to deliver its Plan For Change, and
in doing so to improve the lives of working people and strengthen
our country. This included a clear manifesto commitment to
publish a strategy that would set out our response to the
changing trading environment. This strategy follows our landmark
deal with India, the UK-US Economic Prosperity deal and resetting
our relationship with the EU – all of which has been achieved in
the first year of the government.
Having engaged extensively with business, the UK Trade Strategy
is rooted in data and seeks to reflect not only the changing
character of the UK economy, but the challenging geoeconomic and
geopolitical context of the coming decade. Our trade strategy
acknowledges that the structures that we have relied on to be a
successful open economy need to adapt to accommodate the changing
global trading environment.
Global trade is entering a new era of turbulence, with
geopolitical tensions, geoeconomic challenges and technological
disruption reshaping the international order. We are witnessing a
rise in protectionism, supply chain vulnerabilities and
challenges to the multilateral system.
All of these factors necessitate a fresh approach to trade
policy. As a services superpower, the UK stands uniquely poised
to thrive amid these challenges.
Our Trade Strategy sets out our prioritisation of markets that
present the biggest opportunity to UK businesses, encouraging the
use of our varied range of trade policy tools. This will be
supported by the new Ricardo Fund to help UK regulators remove
regulatory barriers for businesses trading abroad.
The Trade Strategy strengthens our business support, with a
particular focus on simplifying and digitalising border processes
and introducing measures to protect businesses against economic
pressure by strengthening our approach to trade defence: making
our trade remedies system more accessible, assertive and agile;
reviewing our trade defence instruments; and, ensuring businesses
are supported by establishing an Economic Security Advisory
Service.
Finally, the Trade Strategy outlines how it goes hand-in-hand
with our wider government objectives such as our support to
developing countries and our environmental commitments.
