The idea of introducing a Border Carbon Adjustment has been raised by various countries and major trading partners of the UK, most notably the EU, with its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. This Briefing Paper seeks to address the possible implications of a border carbon adjustment mechanism for the UK. We examine the potential impact on specific industries and consider implications of cooperation with the EU on ETS schemes and BCAs, the pros and cons to the UK of applying such a new type of policy tool and for maintaining trade, investment and job stability in the UK, and with trading partners, and the extent to which it might counter the problem of carbon leakage. Read Briefing Paper 64: UK POLICY ON CARBON LEAKAGE

The influence of trade agreements in shaping UK food safety and standards has become almost existential in defining the UK’s post-EU identity. Acceding to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is far from ideology-free: it symbolises the UK’s desire for regulatory independence from the EU and sets out a new post-Brexit direction. In this Briefing Paper, we look whether CPTPP accession seems likely to lower UK food standards and prevent the UK from agreeing to continued regulatory alignment with the EU. The answer is, not necessarily, if the UK Government communicates clearly and explicitly to CPTPP parties its intent to maintain its current regulatory approach, preferably through the use of so-called side letters. Read Briefing Paper 60: CPTPP AND AGRI-FOOD REGULATION: CROSSING THE EU-EXIT RUBICON?

International trade in a digital world is increasingly influenced by domestic regulation and is linked to non-trade areas such as health or climate change.  This makes it difficult for the WTO’s consensus- and trade-focused structure to make swift progress.  This Briefing Paper looks at how the G7 leadership across all four Trade Tracks could provide the necessary impetus for multilateral or open plurilateral solutions, in order to avert further fragmentation of the trading system. Read Briefing Paper 59: G7 LEADERS SHOULD DISCUSS INTERNATIONAL TRADE (SERIOUSLY)

In advance of the EU Commission’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism proposal in July, this Briefing Paper offers a conceptual rubric for evaluating CBA design as a policy trilemma between environmental ambition, technical feasibility and fairness. The paper discusses each aspect of the trilemma and outlines potential tradeoffs that may be necessary between reducing emissions, navigating the complexities of calculating charges, and ensuring mechanisms are WTO-compliant and fair to developing countries. The Briefing Paper also argues that CBA also gives rise to the need for new forms of trade and climate cooperation to determine which other countries or producers have equivalent pricing, and therefore should be exempted. The upcoming G7 and COP, both hosted by the UK, provide an opportunity to make progress on these important questions. Read Briefing Paper 56: THE CARBON BORDER ADJUSTMENT TRILEMMA

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) between the UK and the EU came into force on the 1st January 2021. This Briefing Paper considers the governance, subsidies and the level playing field provisions. The analysis reveals that much of the area lies outside the normal dispute settlement procedure and in some cases bespoke procedures replace or supplement it.  There are some innovative clauses concerning procedures to deal with imbalances arising from future labour and environmental policies, and the potential for review of the balance of the entire trade heading,  but these are quite unknown quantities and have the capacity to create perpetual wrangling and bad feeling between the UK and the EU. Read Briefing Paper 54: TAKING STOCK OF THE UK-EU TRADE AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT: GOVERNANCE, STATE SUBSIDIES AND THE LEVEL PLAYING FIELD 

The House of Lords are currently debating the controversial Internal Market Bill. In so doing, they are highlighting the ways in which the Bill threatens to undermine the devolution settlement. In this Briefing Paper, Emily Lydgate and Chloe Anthony spell out the issues that the Internal Market Bill raises for the relationship between England, Scotland and Wales in the critical area of food standards. The authors conclude that the overriding outcome is the consolidation of power in the central UK Government, raising significant – and still unresolved – constitutional and trade questions. Read Briefing Paper 49: MAINTAINING THE UK INTERNAL MARKET FOR FOOD STANDARDS: FRAGMENTATION, COOPERATION OR CONTROL?

The UK is the first major economy to commit to a net-zero emissions by 2050 climate target, and it also has ambitious trade policy goals of providing multilateral leadership and concluding major new trade agreements. This Briefing Paper examines the coherence of UK trade and climate goals in regards to whether the UK Government has set out a clear strategy for integrating trade and climate policy, is acting on areas of mutual supportiveness, and is addressing areas of potential conflict. The authors find room for improvement in relation to all three areas. They identify a lack of cross-cutting strategy in UK climate legislation and in its approach to free trade agreements,  and suggest the UK reforms its approach to fossil fuel subsidies and builds on its efforts in regard to environmental goods. Finally, the authors underscore the need for ambition and transparency for green subsidies and carbon pricing. Read Briefing Paper 47: CAN THE UK GOVERNMENT BE ‘WORLD-LEADING’ IN BOTH TRADE AND CLIMATE POLICY