Aiming to boost (scant) economic growth and help revive business competitiveness – negatively impacted by the tax-raising budgets, the new trade strategy will result in looser regulation and increased access to finance. By removing regulatory obstacles, the new strategy looks to boost UK’s service exports, worth around £500billion a year. It comes 10 days after Sir Keir finalised the deal with President Trump for the first post-Brexit UK-US trade agreement at the G7 summit in Canada.
UK Export Finance capacity, the UK’s export credit agency, is to be expanded by £20 billion to £80 billion and funding would also be set aside to tackle complex regulatory issues. The UK is also set to join the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement, which was set up to during Trump’s first term to defend global trade system rules and arbitrates trade disputes between countries.
In response to the newly published trade strategy, Jennifer Pheasey, Director of Public Affairs of the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), said: “UK environmental horticulture relies on global supply chains, importing nearly £800 million worth of plants and plant material. However, due to trade barriers, exports have plummeted to just £30 million. The HTA welcomes the ambitious Trade Strategy published today and is pleased to have had the opportunity to contribute to its development. Our sector contributes £36 billion to the UK’s GDP, with the potential to grow to £51 billion by 2030, provided the right conditions are met, including unlocking the barriers to trade.
“The recent announcement of a new UK-EU trade reset, which prioritises a shared ambition for an SPS agreement inclusive of plants and plant products, cannot be delivered soon enough. This has the potential to remove barriers to exports and imports, and fundamentally save the industry from the damage, costs, and lost business it is experiencing today. UK horticulture remains a vibrant and innovative sector, with global interest and demand for our sector knowledge and products. As the majority of businesses in our industry are SMEs (Small Medium Enterprises), we look forward to being part of this partnership to grow UK exports and support SMEs as outlined in today’s strategy.
“The sooner the UK can progress this trade strategy, the sooner businesses can benefit. The HTA strongly supports the swift and effective implementation of a Single Trade Window, as well as steps to ease and streamline the compliance burdens associated with cross-border trade. Furthermore, we seek closer engagement with the new international agri, nature and climate attaches. As the original green sector, environmental horticulture is ideally placed to meet net-zero, environmental and biodiversity ambitions, as well as deliver economic growth.”
