Another momentous week for the UK and for international trade, as a new leader enters Downing Street, the government makes a series of moves on trade deals and violence returns to a key logistics chokepoint.
The big picture: The UK is set to have a new prime minister. Andy Burnham, an experienced veteran of front-line politics and a former mayor of Greater Manchester, will almost certainly enter Downing Street.
Burnham’s in-tray is a full one. As well as a host of policy issues other issues, he faces a series of questions to resolve on international trade and customs from the UK-EU relationship to US President Donald Trump’s tariffs to potential customs reform.
His position as Greater Manchester mayor and a former frontbench minister has given him a significant amount of experience, including on international trade and leading trade missions. In his final day before entering Downing Street, he has promised to “fix things politics has neglected” and change the economic profile of the UK, with a “listening tour” already planned for his first week as PM.
His tour is taking him through the trade-rich areas of the UK. A stop off in the steel cities of Port Talbot in South Wales and Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire, as well as a visit to Aberdeen for a look at the beating heart of the UK’s energy exporting centre, are planned.
Senior staff and experts at the Chartered Institute have set out their five ‘asks’ for the incoming Burnham administration, including on European trade relations, defence spending and customs reform. A new leader means a new approach to government, and we’ll see in the week after what this means for trade, business and the UK as a whole, as well as the UK’s Trade Strategy and Industrial Strategy
Something for all of our readers to watch out for. Chartered Institute director general Marco Forgione is launching his Substack tomorrow (18 July), sharing his considered thoughts on international trade, economic security and the UK’s competitiveness. Keep an eye on out for the first article drop tomorrow.
Good week/bad week: It’s been a good week for the UK’s traders. Firstly, the UK signed a deal with Switzerland, focusing on boosting the services trade while also permitting British passport holders to use e-gates at the border.
The UK-India deal finally came into effect on Wednesday (17 July), bringing down tariffs on a range of products and enabling British businesses to trade with India on tariff-free terms.
Finally, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) announced a series of consultations on future negotiations with Indonesia, the Philippines, the UAE and Uruguay.
It’s been a bad week for the world’s supply chains. The Iran-US conflict resumed after the collapse of the interim peace agreement. Commercial shipping has been caught in the crossfires once again, with several vessels struck and newly reported attacks on transport infrastructure.
Both sides maintain they control the crucial Strait of Hormuz, with Iran claiming to have shut it down while the US insists that it is maintaining a blockade on transport moving through the passage.
Quote of the week: “The UK-India Free Trade Agreement is a landmark deal and the largest of its kind ever signed by India. It should deliver immediate benefits for businesses across the UK, cutting around £400m of tariffs from day one and opening new opportunities for exporters in every part of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.”
Chartered Institute director general Marco Forgione MCIEx reacting to the UK-India free trade agreement entering into force.
The Week in Customs: The UK-India deal brings with it a new requirement to register on a government portal in order to claim preferential origin for their goods. Chartered Institute customs practice lead Caroline Rowden set out some key tips for members when it comes to complying with these new customs rules.
HMRC published its plans for a low value imports regime, including draft legislation laying out its approach.
What else we covered: After a long journey across Europe, with some driving stints of 16 hours, five decommissioned NHS ambulances, funded and donated by the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade, have safely arrived in Ukraine to support frontline medical services. Special thanks to board member Rinat Abdrasilov, director general Marco Forgione, chairman Terry Scouler CBE and Keith Kingham and his team at Kinghams of Croydon
British Steel was nationalised by the DBT, in one of the final moves of Sir Keir Starmer’s government.
The US Trade Representative (USTR) has announced another series of tariffs on Brazil, with a 25% rate now applying to most of Brazil’s exports to the US.
True facts: The final of the World Cup is set for this weekend. Spain and Argentina will play each other on Sunday (19 July), while England take on France tomorrow (18 July) in the third-place playoff.
Spanish-Argentina trade is with a combined US$2.4bn, with agricultural products heading off to Spanish shores and Argentina bringing in machinery and motor parts in return.
Meanwhile, the UK/France trade relationship is substantially larger at US$67bn, although it includes English trade as well as that of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. French wine and cheese are understandably big exports to British shores, although France in turn bought almost US$178m worth of British cheese last year.
Incidentally, Argentina is the only South American nation named after a metal, taking its name from the latin name for silver (‘argentum’), as La Plata Basin used to be associated with the ‘silver mountains legend’ during Spain’s colonial expansion into South America. This ‘Mountain of Silver’ legend, as it was also known, began after Spanish explorers heard legends of the ‘White King’ and significant deposits of silver waiting to be found.
