It’s been a big week for international trade. Not one, not two, but three big trade headlines have graced the news agenda.
They include the announcement of both the UK-EU ‘reset’ summit date and UK-India trade deal implementation date, as well as a breakthrough and subsequent setback for the US-Iran peace deal.
The big picture: After weeks of speculation and mixed reports on the progress of ‘reset’ negotiations, the EU-UK leader’ summit has been set for 22 July.
UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to the date on the sidelines of this week’s G7 summit in Evian, France.
A Downing Street spokesperson said that leaders “underlined the importance of close cooperation between the UK and Europe, to benefit both sides”.
“A closer relationship was vital for European security, resilience and prosperity.”
The date was announced days before the Makerfield by-election, which saw Greater Manchester mayor and potential leadership challenger to Starmer, Andy Burnham, win a decisive 55% majority.
The precarity of Starmer’s position had been reported as one reason for Brussels’ foot-dragging about setting a date for the summit. Burnham and other potential leadership contender, Wes Streeting, both set out positions on the EU relationship. While Streeting claimed the need for the UK to one day rejoin the EU, Burnham softened his previous rhetoric on EU membership and said he wouldn’t consider rejoining, if he became leader.
On the subject of rejoining, in a Guardian exclusive, former chief EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has claimed that it would be possible for the UK to rejoin the bloc on the same terms as it previously enjoyed as a member.
Barnier, who served as French PM in 2024, said of both the Schengen area and adopting the Euro, that it’s “perfectly possible to have opt-outs in these fields”.
Good week/bad week: The UK-India deal finally has an implementation date, after a final set of negotiations.
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) announced on Wednesday (17 June) that the agreement will go live on 15 July. Businesses now have four weeks to prepare for the deal’s entry into force.
A crucial part of this is pre-registering to complete rules of origin declarations when exporting to India, a message that DBT have been repeating over the last few weeks.
Bad news for the peace deal. US-Iran talks on a permanent peace deal have been called off , according to Switzerland’s foreign ministry, as clashes broke out in Lebanon between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah overnight.
US President Donald Trump signed a 14-point interim peace deal earlier this week, receiving significant criticism from his own-Republican party and from the Israeli government, with the interim deal including safe passage for commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days.
Phil Belcher, marine director at Intertanko, told the Guardian that at least 80 mines need to be removed from the strait before commercial shipping can resume, saying this would be an “enormous amount and it’s going to take some time to clear.”
Trump’s vice president, JD Vance, was scheduled to lead the negotiations with Iran up until the last-minute cancellation. Vance also took the time to lash out at the Israeli government’s criticism of the deal, warning Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s not to attack Trump.
How’s stat? €1bn per day. That’s the record high trade surplus that China currently runs with Europe.
Von der Leyen presented that figure to assembled national leaders yesterday as part of a conference to tackle Chinese trade overcapacity.
Although Germany backed a French proposal at the start of the week to enable the bloc to impose ‘US-style’ tariffs on countries with a disproportionate market share, the conference concluded with Brussels committing to more dialogue with China, rather than plans to pursue more powerful policy tools.
Quote of the week: “At our recent member forums around the UK, businesses have been expressing an eager desire to see the deal enter into force, and to better understand its benefits in their specific contexts.”
Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade director general, Marco Forgione, on the UK-India trade deal implementation date.
The week in customs: Chartered Institute Customs Practice lead Caroline Rowden explained the UK-India free trade deal in full, including how to benefit from the agreement and the finer details of what importers and exporters need to know.
Global Trade Today also covered Rowden’s latest Customs Special Interest Group, where she spoke on the EU’s Customs Reforms and how it would impact UK traders.
What else we covered: Chartered Institute Customs Practice director Anna Doherty shared her views on the upcoming UK-EU summit, writing that, while the date confirmation is welcome, “detail matters”, and a number of updates are needed for traders to better understand how trade cooperation will work moving forward.
We reported on the latest Russia sanctions package, which the UK government published on Tuesday. There were 70 new measures, with new targets including 20 oil tankers and measures against those providing services to Russia’s “decrepit shadow fleet”.
The latest State of Freight featured expert insight on the impact of sanctions on maritime trade and shipping, with a stark warning on the environmental risks posed by this ‘shadow fleet’.
True facts: Tonight, Scotland play Morocco in the men’s World Cup. According to the Scottish Beer and Pub Association (SBPA), the match will result in 520,000 extra pints being sold, worth £1.9m to Scottish drinking establishments.
This time, Tartan Army have a far more sociable starting time (11pm) than in their 1-0 victory against Haiti earlier this week. The SBPA also found that Scottish fans pay the second highest rate of beer duty in their world cup group, behind Morocco and ahead of Haiti and Brazil, with Scots paying 54p a pint.
According to a DBT factsheet, about £121m worth of goods are exported to Morocco, or 9.2% of the UK’s exports to the North African nation.
