Alignment with limits and safeguards: EFRA’s key recommendations for a UK-EU SPS Agreement

The House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) has recently published a report responding to the political commitment made at the May 2025 UK–EU Summit to negotiate a common sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) area, with an ambition to conclude negotiations by early 2027. Entitled ‘UK–EU agritrade: making an SPS agreement work’, the report sets out recommendations aimed at ensuring that any future SPS framework is economically beneficial, constitutionally accountable and operationally workable. At its core, the report accepts the economic case for closer regulatory cooperation with the European Union. It recognises the potential benefits of reducing border friction, supporting supply chain resilience and strengthening food security. However, it does not endorse alignment without qualification. Rather, the Committee advances what might be described as an approach of alignment, with limits and safeguards: supporting the negotiation of a common SPS area while seeking targeted exemptions in sensitive areas; calling for robust parliamentary oversight; and insisting on mechanisms to ensure that UK scientific evidence and domestic policy choices are properly reflected in future regulatory developments. Crucially, as a precondition for achieving these safeguards, the Committee urges that the scope of the negotiations is clearly defined and published at an early [...]

By |2026-02-20T17:06:11+00:0020 February 2026|Blog, UK- EU|0 Comments
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Why does the India-EU FTA matter?

The India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) hailed as the “mother of all deals” by both the EU and India, has been under negotiation since 2007. Since the text of the agreement is not available yet to fully verify this claim, it is worth evaluating what can be gleaned about the agreement from the documents released by both sides so far (the EU and India). The Highlights Goods The biggest immediate gain for both sides appear to be on goods, and both parties’ statements focus on these. The coverage appears significant. The FTA reduces tariffs on textiles, apparel, leather, footwear, chemicals, sports goods, toys, gems, and jewellery by India. For the EU, the gains lie in industrial goods, precision machinery, electrical equipment, aviation components, medical devices and other advanced tech. Beyond that, India reducing the high tariffs on cars (although subject to TRQ) is a significant win for the EU. Removing tariffs on chocolate and olive oil altogether, reducing tariffs on wine and spirits, and apples and pears is the cherry on top for the EU’s agriculture sector. Both sides targeted the low hanging fruits and pushed liberalisation of the more controversial goods for further down the road. Sensitive agricultural products [...]

By , |2026-02-18T14:27:39+00:0018 February 2026|Blog, International Trade|0 Comments
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A beginner’s guide to economic security: What it means for trade

This blog is part of our ‘Beginner’s Guide’ series; insightful, accessible explainers of all things trade. The author of this instalment is Minako Morita-Jaeger, a Senior Research Fellow in International Trade and a Research Fellow of the Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy (CITP) at the University of Sussex. In this piece, Minako explores the concept of economic security, highlighting how it has became a strategic tool of power whilst offering a way forward. If you wish to deepen your knowledge on trade policy, check out the CITP’s Online Diploma in International Trade Policy.  The return of President Trump to the White House has brought renewed attention to the relationship between trade and national security. This situation raises questions about how governments should respond to increasing pressure to protect economic security while upholding an open and rules-based trading system. What is economic security? The concept of economic security has evolved over the years, reflecting shifting global and domestic circumstances since the end of World War II. Different governments frame economic security risks and threats in various ways, which means there is no universally accepted definition. However, in terms of values, it broadly refers to the absence of a threat of severe deprivation [...]

By |2026-05-06T09:15:50+01:007 January 2026|Begginer's Guides, Blog, International Trade|0 Comments
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A critical look at the UK’s Critical Minerals Strategy

The UK has now released its new Critical Minerals Strategy which outlines the prospective domestic and international policy actions that the UK Government will take, or will consider, in its pursuit of critical minerals security. By doing so, the UK joins a host of regions (the United States, EU, Canada, Australia, Japan, African countries) that have emphasised the central role of critical minerals in their trade policies, foreign policies, and green industrial strategies. These regions also published their respective strategic approaches to critical minerals recently. There is a powerful narrative in developed economies regarding the indispensability of critical minerals for national and economic security, seeking to strengthen supply chains and make them more resilient by reducing ‘import dependence’ imports and diversifying international sourcing. Concern over  Chinese, near-monopolistic involvement in critical minerals supply chains, which could be weaponised, provides the main geopolitical context for most of these actions. At the same time, mineral-rich countries, which range from those in the developing world (including African and Southeast Asian countries) to Australia and Canada, are looking to leverage their mineral wealth to secure their own mineral-led industrial futures while exploring the right policy mix to attract investments and provide secure partnerships to access-seeking [...]

By , |2025-12-09T11:47:28+00:009 December 2025|Blog, International Trade, UK - Non EU, UK- EU|0 Comments
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How to deliver a UK-EU “re-set” that works

Debates about deepening UK-EU relations, including in the current ‘re-set’ negotiations,  often focus on what will the UK gain versus what it must concede.  Yet, what constitutes a win or a loss for the UK is complex – and if Brexit has taught us anything, it’s that people have diverse, and sometimes polarized, views. This is why an effective re-set of UK-EU relations requires thinking about an aspect of negotiations that is often overlooked, or viewed as a technical consideration: how the UK implements the re-set domestically. More specifically, the UK needs to address the democratic deficit in UK treaty-making, and establish bespoke arrangements on EU regulatory alignment, now and in the future. The surest way to future-proof a closer relationship with the EU is to create a sense that the UK public, and particularly those affected by regulation, have a say in this decision. The importance of domestic implementation Despite its renowned tradition of direct democracy, Switzerland aligns its regulations with the EU across numerous sectors. For example, it recently concluded an EU-Swiss Common Food Safety Area, in which it agreed to align with EU food law across a wide range of areas. At first glance, this decision may [...]

By |2026-01-07T14:56:29+00:0026 November 2025|Blog, International Trade, UK- EU|0 Comments
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In memory: Jim Rollo

We are deeply saddened to hear of the death, after a long illness, on 25th September of our dear friend and colleague Professor Jim Rollo, a hugely distinguished expert on international economics and European Studies. He was a founder member of the UKTPO and its first Deputy Director in 2016. He joined Sussex University in 1999 after a non-university career starting in the Ministry of Agriculture and going on to be Director of the International Economics Research Programme at Chatham House 1989 - 1993 and Chief Economic Adviser at the Foreign Office. He joined the University of Sussex to be the co-director of the Sussex European Institute where he led a Chevening Fellowship programme for highflyers from across non-EU Europe who wanted to study European Issues, many of them from Poland. He was Editor of the Journal of Common Market Studies (JCMS) from 2003 to 2010 and helped found the InterAnalysis consultancy in 2009 and led training courses across Africa and Asia. He was much respected and loved for his erudition, his wit and his deep economic insights. He was an immensely kind and thoughtful, as well as being charming and funny. Everyone who met Jim remembers him fondly. He [...]

By , , , |2025-09-30T09:02:30+01:0026 September 2025|Blog|29 Comments
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The EU–US Trade Deal: A $750 billion commitment caught between supply security and climate strategy

On 27 July 2025, the European Union (EU) announced a trade deal with the United States (US), averting a potential 30% tariff escalation.[1] Failure to conclude negotiations risked a transatlantic economic relationship valued at $2 trillion annually, which is nearly 6% of global trade in goods and services.[2]  In addition to tariffs, there is also agreement on EU purchases of energy products, and to work together on economic security, access to critical energy and investment facilitation.  This blog examines some of the implications of this announcement, reflecting how it could shift the EU's key trade relationships in energy and influence its progress toward achieving climate goals. The terms of the deal The deal sets a 15% base tariff on most EU exports to the US, effectively halving the previously threatened tariff rate. The agreed 15% baseline tariff is understood to be applied on an inclusive basis and not as an additive layer to pre-existing rates. Both sides appear to have agreed on zero-for-zero tariffs for a number of strategic products. This includes all aircraft and component parts, certain chemicals, certain generics, semiconductor equipment, certain agricultural products, natural resources, and critical raw materials. Officials also confirmed that work will continue to [...]

By , |2025-08-12T15:52:38+01:0012 August 2025|Blog, International Trade|0 Comments
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Chasing Windmills: Trump’s Brazil tariffs and the Latin American ‘backyard illusion’

On 30 July, President Trump issued an executive order raising tariffs on Brazilian goods by 40%, totalling 50% when added to the 10% baseline announced in April. Invoking emergency powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the National Emergencies Act (NEA), the justification wasn’t an economic threat, but Brazil’s domestic legal actions, particularly Supreme Court measures against the spread of misinformation in social media platforms and the trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro, accused of undermining Brazilian democracy. This represents economic coercion, violating the principle of non-intervention, which prohibits interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign states, and WTO rules. The blog focuses on how these trade tariffs are a tool to achieve geopolitical goals in the pursuit of hegemonic leadership. The executive order targeting Brazil breaches US obligations in the GATT: Article II:1(b), which binds it to agreed maximum tariff rates, and Article I:1 (most-favoured-nation treatment), which requires equal treatment of all WTO members. It doesn’t meet the requirements of a national security exception under Article XXI as interpreted by WTO jurisprudence. The measure also breaches Article 23 of the DSU, which prohibits unilateral trade retaliation. More than violating such commitments, the US administration is subverting [...]

By |2026-03-04T14:50:27+00:001 August 2025|Blog, UK - Non EU|0 Comments
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The Long Game beyond tariffs

The global economy faces a roller-coaster ride every time Mr. Trump is in the White House. Last time, a focus on controlling China’s growing economic power meant that the rest of the world narrowly escaped the wrath of the United States executive, with some tariffs on some sectors. This time around, things are quite starkly different: it is difficult to even know who constitutes a friend or a foe. All trading partners are now threatened with high horizontal tariffs in the name of “reciprocity”. Adding to this list of unknowns is the uncertainty around non-tariff policies, the uncertain implementation of non-binding deals, and the nature of an elusive collective response. First, tariff and non-tariff policies. Trump appears focused on tariffs, using import tariff threats to secure various trade concessions and other commitments. Unsurprisingly, the prevailing vexation of the rest of the world is regarding the higher tariffs on their exports to the US. There will certainly be losers both in the US and its trading partners, due to the shocks of tariff hikes. The hope is for a predictable and stable trading environment to be restored soon. However, while we worry about tariff hikes and policy uncertainty, we should not [...]

By |2025-08-01T13:02:51+01:001 August 2025|Blog, International Trade, UK - Non EU|0 Comments
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Trump’s trade deals: It’s not 1931, yet.

  The overall impact of Trump's actions may only represent a modest shock to the rest of the world, primarily because the US budget and trade balances are likely to widen due to the fiscal stance, which will boost US demand relative to output. However, there could be significantly different relative impacts on other countries. Ultimately, the final outcome will depend on whether the rest of the world magnifies or dampens these effects. The spate of recent “trade deals” done by the US does not stabilise the world trade system; rather, it creates ongoing uncertainty. It’s not like 1931 when the Smoot-Hawley tariffs dramatically increased tariffs on all suppliers across the board simultaneously as US aggregate demand was collapsing, sending a huge macro-economic shock across the world. The US was the world’s biggest importer, and other countries worsened the situation by raising protectionist barriers against one another, e.g. the UK Tariff Act of 1932. Even though the new Trump tariffs are nearly as high as those of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, the US accounts for only about 15% of world imports. At the same time, Trump is cutting taxes (on the rich) in a manner that is very likely to [...]

By |2025-08-01T13:03:23+01:0030 July 2025|Blog, International Trade, UK- EU|0 Comments
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