🇬🇧 trade policy may be more interesting than many think in 2026 - EU reset to move up a gear - Steel policy review - Free trade agreements Comprehensive preview by @chrishorseman.bsky.social 

EU #CBAM - as duties kick in next month, Brussels has already started expanding the carbon border levy's product scope.... More from @robfranciseu.bsky.social 

So now we really know what the US government wants out of the @WTO: end its foundational most-favoured nation principle.... @chrishorseman.bsky.social on Washington's filing to the Geneva trade body

What's in the upgraded UK Korea trade deal: - digital trade rules - new origin rules for autos 🚗 #Roo - financial, ☎️ telco rules - customs rules - movement of ppl - food safety - investment protection - Paris Agreement on climate 🌳 By @chrishorseman.bsky.social 

New podcast! Is a level playing field a luxury that we can no longer afford in these days of geopolitical contention? Listen to the discussion with @weforum.org @pholmes8.bsky.social @uktpo.org @sussex.ac.uk @chrishorseman.bsky.social @borderlex.net soundcloud.com/uktpo-tradeb...

Study commissioned by European Parliament says EU should explore "the feasibility of concluding a free trade agreement, instead of a bilateral investment agreement, with Taiwan". If that fails, EU and Taiwan should both join CPTPP www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etud...

Everything you didn't know you needed to know about conformity assessment in the EU and UK! Don't miss the latest episode of the Trade Bites podcast - out now! soundcloud.com/uktpo-tradeb...

My preview for what the autumn holds in EU trade policy. Spoiler: tariffs may feature borderlex.net/2025/08/26/b...

Another wrinkle in the EU-Indonesia trade relationship? By @chrishorseman.bsky.social borderlex.net/2025/08/22/w...

Today is US tariff day. It's definitely not a good day for Switzerland.... 🇨🇭 🇺🇸 @chrishorseman.bsky.social on the Swiss "shock" of facing 39% duties to exports to the US borderlex.net/2025/08/01/s...

Preliminary talks are 'coalescing' around digital trade as a possible area where the EU and the CPTPP could do a deal to show that international trade cooperation ain't dead yet... My piece for Borderlex: 👇

Is there method in Trump's tariff madness? The verdict from my excellent guests on the latest @thecitp.bsky.social Trade Bites podcast? "Sort of..." :-) Thanks to Meredith Crowley, @sjrickard.bsky.social and @chadpbown.com for their insights. You can listen here: soundcloud.com/uktpo-tradeb...

What could a new EU-UK agri-food deal really mean? Our latest podcast unpacks the potential pitfalls for UK-EU, what it all means for Northern Ireland trade & agri-food deals with other countries 👉 on.soundcloud.com/WqBH9mpGBEYr... @emilylydgate.bsky.social @chrishorseman.bsky.social @borderlex.net

DBT press release: "The Trade Strategy will be published 09.15 Thursday 26 June here..." Thursday, 09.41, gov.uk website: "Page Not Found". This is at least consistent with UK having joined the MPIA trade dispute arbitration system five years late. (Hope we don't have to wait that long...)

The UK is to join the MPIA - the WTO's voluntary alternative to the defunct Appellate Body. Britain took its time - it's now five years since MPIA was launched. Seems London is now finally convinced that the formal WTO dispute settlement reform process is a dead parrot.

One of the most interesting and topical Trade Bites discussions yet! My thanks to our excellent contributors. 👍

📢 Borderlex event || Book Talk with Ben Chu – Exile Economics – 19 June 2025, London 🇬🇧 👉 Come & chat about what shapes today’s trade policy with BBC's Ben Chu‬, author of Exile Economics: What Happens if Globalisation Fails Free but registration required ↓ borderlex.net/2025/06/02/b...

Where do recent developments such as the #UStariffs leave the global trading system? Is the @wto.org and the rules-based system that it oversees, now dead? Joining our host @chrishorseman.bsky.social are Jennifer Hillman, L. Alan Winters and Farisa Zarin 👉 soundcloud.com/uktpo-tradeb...

EU-UK reset deal incoming at around lunchtime today: 12-year rollover of fish access rights SPS deal (unclear how much detail still to be agreed) EU and UK ETS schemes linked, with mutual CBAM exemption Youth exchange deal Return to pre-Brexit style electricity interchange

The world needs more of this and less of most other things

In case you missed it last week - the latest Trade Bites podcast offers a great opportunity to get the lowdown on the new UK-India FTA. With rich insights from @amritasaha.bsky.social, @achyuthanil.bsky.social, Abhijit Das and Emily Weaver Roads. soundcloud.com/uktpo-tradeb...

So much hoping that Spain will apply reciprocal requirements for Brits living on the Costa del Sol…. 😉

The UK-India trade deal does *not* make it cheaper and easier for a number of major companies based in the UK to employ Indian workers. That is a fundamental, elementary misconception. Visa cap stays, and you have to be seconded within an Indian company. The rest is just... lies.

How will the UK's carmakers respond to the challenges of Trump's 25% tariffs? Do they have realistic options to sell to other markets, or to relocate production? Get a full trade policy MOT in the latest episode of Trade Bites! 👇 soundcloud.com/uktpo-tradeb...

An outbreak of common sense negotiating. No-one ever seriously believed the U.K. would not do a multi-year fish deal with the EU, so there was no point pretending it might not. And the EU needs access to U.K. arms - so it’s gagner-gagner, as Macron might say … www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

WTO Trade Outlook report projects 0.2% fall in global trade volumes in 2025 - its previous estimate was +2.9%. Decline could be as much as -1.5% if full 'reciprocal' tariffs return Region most affected by trade damage? North America - exports down 12.6%.

Still early stages in EU-US talks to avoid a trade war. The two sides are scoping options, according to the commission, despite the EU trade chief visiting Washington 3 times in last few months. All the latest below 👇🏻https://borderlex.net/2025/04/15/maros-sefcovic-in-washington-no-signs-of-deal-yet/

EU-China trade tensions remain despite the Trump tariffs - but are there signs of rapprochement? And how can the EU prevent an import surge from China as a result of the Trump tariffs? My summary of where things are at between Brussels and Beijing 👇🏻 borderlex.net/2025/04/08/e...

Trade Bites is back! The podcast series about trade policy returns for a new series. Join me for insights and info about UK digital trade in the Trump era. With @anupamchander.bsky.social, Javier Luiz, and Professor Lorna Woods. @thecitp.bsky.social soundcloud.com/uktpo-tradeb...

For all the talk of unity EU countries can't even agree on whether bourbon should be on a list of retaliatory tariffs, let alone whether it should use the (drum roll please) 'anti-coercion instrument' AKA "THE BAZOOKA!" My piece from a today's meeting in Luxembourg 👇🏻 borderlex.net/2025/04/07/e...

This funny 'American Pie' parody bites hard — from a comedy show that went out a few days ago in the UK

Chair of European Parliament trade committee Bernd Lange: “If the US illegally attacks our core economic interests, the EU should put tariffs on digital services on which the US has a huge surplus, on the table, with the ultimate aim of getting to a negotiated outcome”

HM Treasury estimates that the UK still has £5.7bn to pay to the EU in liabilities under the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement. Since Brexit, a total of £25.0bn had been transferrred to Brussels up to the end of December 2024.

UK minister NIck Thomas-Symonds promises "ruthless pragmatism" in reset talks with EU. But just how 'ruthless' is the UK govt prepared to be to make this reset work? That could be the key question.... No paywall! 👇 borderlex.net/2025/03/20/c...

Lutnick and Reynolds say US and UK will "start working together on an Economic Prosperity Deal, building on our shared strengths and commitment to economic security". No mention of the T word - whether imposition thereof on UK goods on 2nd April, or avoidance thereof.....

China escalates #WTO fight against Canada over tech tariffs while Ottawa and Washington clash over their own cross-border trade disputes — ironically, Canada's tough China stance appears to be a play to cozy up to the US 🇨🇦🇨🇳🇺🇸 By Chris Horseman ⤵️ #Tradewar #CanadaChina borderlex.net/2025/03/13/b...

One of my fave stories of the year so far: the UK drops anti-dumping duties on Chinese chamois leather imports because the sole UK producer can't be arsed to respond to the questionnaire. That wasn't quite how the Trade Remedies Authority phrased it, but... borderlex.net/2025/03/13/w...

Buying an electric car, Donald? Isn't that a bit .... you know ... woke? ;-) news.sky.com/story/presid...

The UK is not emulating the EU in retaliating against the US. This means that tariff differentials on the products affected will widen significantly. That could affect trade flows, and have big implications for Northern Ireland in particular. Full story: 👇 borderlex.net/2025/03/12/u...

Government Pooh-Poohs Proposed Pork Pie Putsch!! Efforts by Melton Mowbray pork pie producers to restrict GI production area are half-baked, says DBT.... Basically, they're telling porkies.... (please insert your own unoriginal joke here...) assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67c821...

Canada takes its fight with the US to the WTO. Kinda symbolic, given the state of the WTO at present - but it puts down a marker... borderlex.net/2025/03/06/c...

From the new US Trade Policy Agenda report: "President Trump alone recognized the role that trade policy has played in creating these challenges and how trade policy can fix them.." Trump is now the new Pharaoh / Sun God. It's terrifying stuff...

Maroš Šefčovič says the EU will counter #Trump’s steel and aluminium #tariffs with retaliatory measures, but this is not the EU’s “preferred scenario” By Rob Francis👇 borderlex.net/2025/02/11/e...

Is there a trade silver lining from the Second Coming of Trump? Some in the US tech sector think there might be...👇 borderlex.net/2025/02/11/w...

"What UK business community needs is a cool and clear-headed sense of UK national interest, based on full assessment of all the implications of the US’s actions." UK trade min Douglas Alexander also reminds MPs that UK has until 12th March to negotiate with Trump on steel tariff concessions

A UK govt source tells me that London is "seeking further details" on Trump's tariff plans, and is keen to work with Trump to "further strengthen" UK-US trading relations. Contrast with on-the-record EU comment: "EU sees no justification" for tariffs. "We will react".

Commission responds: "The EU sees no justification for the imposition of tariffs on its exports. We will react to protect the interests of European businesses, workers and consumers from unjustified measures." Adds imposing tariffs is "unlawful and economically counterproductive"

A rare instance of a trade policy decision that prioritises the interests of consumers over manufacturers. Although Brompton’s lobbying to keep protection for the folding bike sub-market was successful… borderlex.net/2025/02/06/u...

The EU’s trade chief Maroš Šefčovič wants “early engagement” with the US on #tariffs Full story by Rob Francis ⤵️ #EUtrade #EUUS #Trump borderlex.net/2025/02/04/s...