UK and international trade update: March 2024

Trade is essential for the CBI’s work to drive sustainable growth for our members and across the economy. And the start of 2024 has been a busy time, raising the voice of our members on trade at home, to government and all parties – and internationally, in global forums like the B7 and the WTO.

Growth through trade

In Westminster, both main parties are eyeing up ways to support SME exports, and the CBI has spoken to Jonathan Reynolds and other Shadow Ministers about bolstering practical support at home and in-market. This month we’re also briefing Gareth Thomas on a No.10-driven trade strategy. And we will keep working closely with Liam Byrne (chair of the Business & Trade Select Committee).

We are playing a key convening role in the India and Canada FTA negotiations, to make them work for businesses across the UK – raising sector-specific concerns and pressing for substance over speed, including in meetings with Harjinder Kang (HMTC South Asia) and the Indian High Commissioner in the UK. The 2024 Indian election will give us all breathing space to get the final details right – and in May we will jointly host an Indian CEO delegation with the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Pressing the CBI member interest at the World Trade Organisation

We continue to champion free and fair trade in international for a too – in a big election year when many governments are starting to push more defensive trade strategies to appeal to their electorates.

The recent World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC13) is a prime example. Expectations were low going in, before a number of countries like India, Indonesia and South Africa, played hardball – raising concerns until the eleventh hour. Nevertheless, the CBI secured some minor but significant wins for firms. Working with business bodies around the world, we secured the extension of the e-commerce moratorium until the next WTO Ministerial or 31 March 2026 (whichever is first). We will now push to make it permanent.

On intellectual property (TRIPS), it was also good there was no extension of the waiver to diagnosis and therapeutics. But we recognise there is still a pressure from countries who want the agreement relaxed to access green and digital transition technologies. Then on dispute settlement, though the USA’s position always made big breakthroughs unlikely, there was a Ministerial Decision recognising progress towards a fully functioning system by 2025.

Our new President Rupert Soames was also out this month championing free and fair trade in a speech to the EU Heads of Mission, in which he also stressed the importance of building on the new EU-UK relationship and maximising the benefits of the TCA.

B7 – Digital Transformation and AI

The CBI has also been active as the UK representative on the B7, the business arm of the G7. With the other B7 organisations, we pressed business’s priorities to the G7 ahead of their Industry, Tech & Digital Ministers meeting on 14-15 March in Verona.

We’re delighted many of our collective messages made it into the G7 Declaration, including:

1. The need for regulatory interoperability
2. Advancing the Hiroshima Process
3. Public-private sector collaboration
4. Skills and inclusion
5. AI for tackling societal challenges like climate and healthcare
6. Operationalising Data Free Flow with Trust (DFFT).

We welcomed all this in our own statement when we met the Ministers. We will keep feeding into the B7 process ahead of the B7 Summit in May and the G7 in June.

For more information, please contact Sean McGuire, CBI Director, Europe and International.