This week in trade saw a new report from Parliament’s Business and Trade Committee, outlining its priorities for the year, as well as good news for the UK economic growth and a sugary new scourge at the country’s borders. There was also a celebration of Apprenticeships, with a look at their value to the freight forwarding sector.
The big picture: The UK’s businesses see political stability, expansion of digital trade and the green transition as top priorities in the immediate term, according to a new report from Parliament’s Business and Trade Committee.
As we reported earlier this week, the report suggested that digital trade is seen as a particularly significant pathway to growth, with business groups calling for UK diplomats to encourage other countries to pursue digitalisation.
The report suggested that “expanding digital marketplaces and promoting cross-border online sales would boost exports to regions where physical retail is limited”.
Grace Thompson, the Chartered Institute of Export and International Trade’s public affairs lead, said the report was “timely” and noted that the Chartered Institute “was pleased to input our thoughts to the committee”.
"We have been working on digital trade measures to facilitate trade for some time, including through our new tool Dokit and look forward to continuing conversations with policymakers on the importance of traceability, transparency and increased speed through digital trade processes."
Good week/bad week: There was good news for the UK economy this week as ONS figures revealed GDP grew 0.1% between October and December 2024, with a 0.4% boost recorded in December specifically.
The figures came as a surprise following a raft of poor economic data released at the start of the year, and ongoing complaints from businesses that the National Insurance Contribution (NIC) increase for employers introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Autumn Budget would lead to a contraction in the jobs market.
On the ground, the BBC reports that many small businesses are still concerned about the cost of hiring people, with Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper warned the NIC rise will “hammer small businesses”.
It’s been a bad week for Ukraine’s involvement in achieving peace. US president Donald Trump announced that he was inviting Russian counterpart, Vladmir Putin, in for talks, apparently without talking to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky or any other major allies.
Despite UK and EU insistence that Ukraine should be a major part of the discussions, and that no peace deal would be accepted without their approval, BBC’s Jeremy Bowen described Trump’s actions as a “nightmare” for Zelensky, as he’d been treated as a “junior adjunct to any peace talks”. The war has had major ramifications for trade, with the EU alone sanctioning €43.9bn in exports to Russia as a result.
How’s stat: £8,500. That’s the value of illegal US sweets seized by Staffordshire County Council following a pilot project by the Food Standards Agency to crack down on imports.
The Guardian reports that “millions” of US sweets containing banned additives and chemicals linked to cancer are being imported into the UK as shop owners respond to demand spurred by videos shared on TikTok.
Chartered Trading Standards Institute chief executive John Herriman said:
“The increase in demand means importers are sending these through our ports and borders in the millions, and these are then being widely distributed and ending up in retail stores and in the hands of children.”
He urged both suppliers and consumers to be vigilant for banned ingredients, which include brominated vegetable oil (BVO), mineral oil, bleached flour, and additives including Sunset yellow FCF, Allura red, and Tartrazine.
Quote of the week: “People often say ‘knowledge is power’, but it isn’t. Knowledge is potential. It needs to be implemented, which is the beauty of an apprenticeship, it helps that knowledge to be used in an expert manner.”
Chartered Institute apprenticeship success manager Steve Horell explaining how apprenticeships can bolster the skillset of freight forwarding professionals, in a LinkedIn Live event hosted by the Chartered Institute to mark National Apprenticeship Week.
The week in customs: An urgent message from the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) led our member-exclusive Customs Corner feature this week, with the body calling for firms to get in touch before October if they want an expiry review ahead of a series of anti-dumping and countervailing measures expiring next year.
For more information about the goods affected, as well as an update on German import restrictions following last month’s foot-and-mouth outbreak, click here.
Other stories we covered this week: Following EU trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič raising the possibility of the UK joining the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention (PEM) in Davos last month, our international trade legislation senior adviser Garima Srivastava explained how PEM works.
We reviewed the week’s trade news from Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trading nations and the world of e-commerce.
There was also a preview of one of the panels at our upcoming MemberCon25 event on 13 March, with a look at the ‘Trade in Practice’ session, designed to give traders practical insights across a range of themes.
True facts: In the true spirit of Valentine’s Day, let’s take a brief look at the commercial impact of the holiday.
The British Florists Association writes that 250m stems of flowers are sold globally on this day each year. The biggest exporters of roses – the day’s most popular flower – are Kenya and Columbia, with the Netherlands, the UK’s neighbouring supplier, providing 20% of the world’s roses.
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