To discuss any of our key trade priorities below, please contact our Head of International Trade, Paul Walters.
The UK government, the US and the EU further strengthened sanctions against Russia at the end of last week. A further ban on services exports to Russia has been introduced covering transactional legal services, IT consultancy, architecture, engineering, advertising, auditing. Legislation is due shortly.
This week, the BCC participated in the first meeting of the Civil Society Forum on the UK-EU relationship, along with key officials from London and Brussels, and business and other stakeholders from the UK and EU. We raised the key issue for SME traders of fiscal representatives, VAT and using the ‘one-stop shop’ for online sales.
The BCC also joined the first joint meeting of UK and EU Domestic Advisory Groups on EU-UK Trade this week. A strong ambition was expressed by all stakeholders to keep the practical effects of regulatory divergence in both the UK and EU under review in terms of the implications for trade
The World Trade Organisation downgraded its forecast for global trade in 2023 to 1% and identified weaker consumer demand for imported goods as a key factor. We will be discussing the implications of this with the Department for International Trade (DIT) in terms of export growth.
Last week, the BCC met with DIT officials to discuss Indian additional tariffs on key UK export goods in response to UK policy on steel safeguard measures. We await further response and will share an update as soon as possible.
