After nearly half a century of EU membership, Britain needs a trade strategy. The stakes are high: such a strategy shapes what families and firms buy from abroad, and what gets produced domestically; influences our jobs, productivity levels and, ultimately, living standards; and contributes a major plank of Britain's international policy at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions. This report, part of the Economy 2030 Inquiry, sets out what a successful trade strategy should look, harnessing trade as an engine for UK growth, while being highly integrated with domestic policy, but recognise the constraints implied by the global and domestic context.

This report finds that the UK's initial post-Brexit trade plan has run out road and must be replaced with a far more ambitious twin-track trade strategy that protects high-value manufacturing while seeking out new markets for our world-leading services sector. That means a defensive approach on goods that protects high value added manufacturing firms struggling to retain their place in European supply chains; and an expansive approach on services that ensures the UK benefits from the global services trade tailwinds.

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15 June 2023

The Economy 2030 Inquiry

Trading up

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This External report is part of the centre's Trade programme.

This publication comes under the following theme: Trade Policy and barriers to international economic integration