Plans to better protect vital UK industries and help businesses export have been revealed by the government, as the world continues to grapple with the effects of Donald Trump’s trade war.
A trade strategy, to be published on Thursday, aims to make the UK the best-connected country to do business, aided by looser regulation and increased access to finance.
It forms part of the government’s efforts to get business back on side after the backlash which followed the tax-raising budget and its “plan for change” to boost meagre economic growth.
The plan follows hot on the heels of a trade deal which spares the UK from some of the US president’s most punitive duties, and a more wide-ranging agreement with India.
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The strategy – the first since Brexit – also aims to capitalise on a relaxation in some EU rules on trade, and the separate industrial strategy outlined earlier this week that will give energy-intensive businesses help in bolstering their competitiveness through cuts to their bills.
Jonathan Reynolds, the business and trade secretary, said: “The UK is an open trading nation but we must reconcile this with a new geopolitical reality and work in our own national interest.
“Our Trade Strategy will sharpen our trade defence so we can ensure British businesses are protected from harm, while also relentlessly pursuing every opportunity to sell to more markets under better terms than before.”
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Who will be positively impacted by the UK-US trade deal?
The department said that the capacity of UK Export Finance, the UK’s export credit agency, was to be expanded by £20bn and funding would also be set aside to tackle complex regulatory issues and remove obstacles for exporters.
The US trade war provides both opportunities and threats to UK firms.
The steel sector is to be consulted on what new protections can be put in place from June 2026 once current safeguards, covering things like cheap Chinese imports, are due to expire.
The trade and industrial strategies have been revealed at a time of crisis for both steel and chemicals linked to high costs.
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Britain’s energy price problem
British Steel is now under the control of the UK government in a bid to protect the country’s ability to produce so-called virgin steel following the closures of the blast furnaces at Tata’s Port Talbot works.
It was announced on Wednesday that Saudi firm Sabic was to shut its Olefins 6 ethylene plant at Wilton on Teesside, leaving more than 300 jobs at risk.
Like British Steel’s owner Jingye, Sabic has blamed high energy bills.
Eliminating some of those costs, under the industrial strategy plans, would not kick in until 2026 at the earliest.
At the same time, Associated British Foods (ABF) is to make a decision on Thursday on whether to shut the UK’s largest bioethanol plant in Hull.
ABF has complained that the Vivergo Fuels factory has had the rug pulled from under it by the UK government as its recent trade deal with the US allows subsidised US ethanol into the country.
A second UK bioethanol plant, owned by Ensus, is at risk of closure on Teesside.
The steel industry lobby group said the trade strategy would build on work in the industrial strategy to provide a more stable platform for the sector.
UK Steel’s director general Gareth Stace, said: “For too long, the government has been hamstrung by self-imposed rules that allow bad actors to take advantage of our open market.
“This has enabled state-subsidised steel to rip market share away from domestic producers, at the cost of thousands of good jobs in some of the most economically vulnerable regions in the country, and fracturing manufacturing supply chains, making us more reliant on imports.
“We need swift and decisive action to build a trade defence regime that is fit for purpose and in place before current safeguards expire in 2026.
“With the right tools and the political will to use them, the UK can reassert control over its steel market, protect skilled jobs, and give investors the confidence that the UK steel sector has a strong and sustainable future.”
