Happy International Women’s Day everyone. Before we turn to the Institute of Export & International Trade’s (IOE&IT) own contributions to today’s celebrations, there’s the small matter of Wednesday’s (6 March) Spring Budget.
Big picture: This week, chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Budget dominated the international trade agenda.
The good news, according to Grace Thompson, UK public affairs lead at the IOE&IT, was that the Treasury confirmed that the first investment zones will be implemented in April. There’s also additional support for SMEs, in the form of an increased VAT threshold and an extension of the Growth Guarantee Scheme.
The bad news was that the Budget lacked details on further investment zones, and there was no mention of focus on regional skills, something which was a focus of requests from IOE&IT and its members.
With a possible Autumn Statement offering a last throw of the dice for Hunt before the next general election, the Daily Update will keep traders informed of any future Budget developments.
Good week/bad week: It’s been a good week for the EU, as it won a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute against Malaysia over biodiesel.
By a two-to-one ruling, the WTO panel rejected Malaysia’s complaint over an EU decision that biodiesel made from palm oil should no longer be classed as a as a ‘renewable’ biofuel.
It’s been a bad week for Thai manufacturers, who’ve had to ask Australia to pause a plan to introduce emissions standards to cars imported into Australia.
Reuters reports that Thailand's prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, asked his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, to slow down the move, citing fears that it might damage Thailand’s domestic industry.
Customs: The week brought a pair of updates from HMRC on customs.
First, the government said that traders can now use the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) and move all their export declarations to CDS from (4 March) onwards.
Second, HMRC gave an update to a previous announcement on goods moving under the UK Internal Market Scheme, for movements from Northern Ireland to Britain or into Northern Ireland from outside the UK or EU.
How’s stat: 7.1%: That’s how much Chinese exports rose in January and February compared to a year earlier. A Reuters poll of analysts forecast a much more modest increase of just 1.9%.
Quote: “We have a theme of finance that runs through our programme, because our employer networks have informed us that students don't have sufficient finance skills.”
Leeds Beckett University professor, Dr Sukky Jassi, on the International Business degree now accredited by IOE&IT.
What else we covered
Benjamin Roche spoke to the UK’s book sellers, learning about how traders are dealing with paperwork and how the Middle East is emerging as a prime market for English-language books. He also covered the five big stories from the WTO’s ministerial conference, including the major news that the E-Commerce Moratorium was narrowly extended.
Richard Cree covered the news that data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed a drop in both the UK’s imports and exports of goods last year.
Today is International Women’s Day and, ahead of the day, William Barns-Graham covered what to expect from IOE&IT’s webinar on women in trade, titled ‘Breaking down barriers for female entrepreneurs in trade’.
You can sign up to today’s webinar here.
Danielle Keen gave us another of her country trade profiles, this time exploring Iran’s economic and political situation, following on from a set of low-turnout parliamentary elections last week. She also spoke to IOE&IT trade strategy and projects specialist, Karen Holden, to learn more about the significance of International Women’s Day and the progress women have made in the international trade sector.
True Facts: Tomorrow, Barbie (real name Barbara Millicent Roberts) turns 65. According to Barbie Media, she has had over 250 careers, run for US president twice and has even travelled into space.
In trade terms, the Barbie toy is now sold in over 150 countries worldwide and boasts one of the highest grossing movies in history, with combined receipts of $1.38bn.