The Welsh government has called for more support for small businesses, innovation provisions in trade agreements and a focus on using Welsh culture and language to promote investment into Wales.
Released yesterday (11 July), the policy document outlines the approach of the Labour-led administration for promoting international trade to the benefit of Wales:
“The Welsh Government’s approach to trade policy is underpinned by our ambition to increase prosperity in Wales, our values, our wider commitments to sustainability and our responsibilities through the Well-being of Future Generations Act.
“In recent years, the trade environment has changed beyond all recognition. As the world changes, Wales changes with it.”
‘Well-being’
The Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 sets out seven “well-being goals” that any Welsh public body must achieve and five ways of working to meet these. These goals are both economic and social.
In recent years, discussions around trade deals have moved away from the pure economics of any agreement, and there is now more consideration of issues including female representation in trade, climate change and small businesses.
The policy contains numerous references to trade and exports being used to promote “well-being”, and says that labour standards and environmental protections are key to this.
Any new trade deal must not undermine workers rights, according to this policy, and should “serve to increase fair work in Wales”:
“We want to see realistic impact assessments from the UK government so that we can mitigate the impacts for the sectors and communities in Wales that may be negatively impacted from a trade agreement.
“Trade agreements should not create advantages for some, at the expense of significant disadvantages for others.”
In 2022, EU research found that labour standards were a “controversial issue” for some, as developing nations sometimes felt that the commitments might make it difficult for them to remain competitive. However, both the EU and US are increasingly including them in trade talks.
Cymru’s culture
The goals include looking at how trade agreements could contribute to a “prosperous”, “resilient” and “more equal” Wales, with mention of promoting the Welsh language and using culture and national identity as “positive factors in encouraging trade”.
The Welsh government also asks “the UK government to exclude any commitments and obligations made on the audio-visual industry (creative industries)”, saying these provisions could have “a negative impact” on the Welsh language and culture.
The goal would be to use trade to promote and protect the nation’s culture, language and heritage.
The ‘how’
The UK’s devolved governments do not directly control national trade policy, which is still directed from Westminster.
While Wales and other devolved administration in the UK’s nations and regions have trade departments, most policy decisions and trade negotiations are made by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT).
The policy acknowledges this and says that the Welsh government would work with the UK government to achieve the objectives.
This includes calling on Westminster to engage with the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish authorities, a demand for a comprehensive strategy that includes many of the Welsh government's aims, and monitoring trade deals to see how the initial impact compares to the pre-agreement projections.