Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy home pagePublications
Search and Filter Fields
Type into the field below to perform a live search and/or apply filters via the button provided.
32 Publications found…
-
Evidence 25 July 2025
House of Lords International Agreements Committee inquiry on General Terms for the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal
By Achyuth Anil, Ingo Borchert, Peter Holmes, Emily Lydgate, Minako Morita Jaeger, Sunayana Sasmal and Maurizio Zanardi et al.
View postSummary CITP publication
In response to this inquiry by the House of Lords International Agreements Committee on "General Terms for the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal", our evidence reviews the impact of this deal including its implications to the UK’s future trade relationships, compatibility with WTO rules and how Parliament can assess the value and scrutinise future agreements of this nature. Our key points include: While the UK seeks short-term gains through flexible, non-binding agreements like the EPD, such deals risk undermining the global rules-based trading system. This approach could lead to increased economic conflict and supply chain disruptions, particularly as preferential arrangements (e.g., for US ethanol) affect other partners. The UK, as a smaller economy, would be better served by upholding multilateral principles, including legal enforceability and non-discrimination. Aligning too closely with the US—especially on supply chain security and China-related trade controls—could damage relations with other key partners, including the EU.
Topics
-
Evidence 24 July 2025
International Agreements Committee inquiry on the General Terms for the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal
By Emily Lydgate et al.
View postSummary CITP publication
Evidence by Professor Emily Lydgate and the wider UK Trade Policy Observatory and Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy teams has been heavily cited (35 times) in a letter from the House of Lords International Agreements Committee to Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds. The letter lays out some key conclusions and recommendations arising out of the Committee’s inquiry into the General Terms for the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal. The letter highlights concerns submitted by Sussex trade researchers about the deal including: its failure to remove the 10% baseline tariff imposed on the UK; how UK food standards will be maintained; risks to digital and data security; the prospect of offering compliance with ill-defined US supply chain security requirements in exchange for market access; impact on relations with other trade partners; and the risks to the World Trade Organization system posed by the deal.
Topics
-
Evidence 8 July 2025
International Agreements Committee inquiry on the General Terms for the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal
By Emily Lydgate et al.
View postSummary CITP publication
Emily Lydgate gave oral evidence to the International Agreements Committee on the UK-US trade relationship.
Topics
-
Evidence 8 July 2025
House of Lords International Agreements Committee inquiry on General Terms for the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal
By Emily Lydgate et al.
View postSummary CITP publication
Professor Emily Lydgate provides oral evidence to the House of Lords International Agreements Committee on UK-US trade, in particular the general terms published in relation to the economic prosperity deal (EPD). From a UK perspective, the EPD helps protect jobs in particular sectors like automotive (e.g. Jaguar Land Rover) and reinforces constructive UK-US relations. However, it offers limited certainty. It is not a binding trade agreement, but rather a response to political pressure and evolving US demands, especially from the Trump administration. This uncertainty takes away the businesses ability to plan. Additionally, the sectoral focus is very narrow, offering limited tariff relief beyond a few targeted industries, while broader issues such as the continued 10% reciprocal tariffs remains unresolved leaving us in a worse place than we were before this all started.
Topics
-
Blog post 26 June 2025
The UK Trade Strategy: Fit for the World?
By Michael Gasiorek and Emily Lydgate.
View postSummary CITP publication
In this blog, we highlight some key initial reflections on the UK's Trade Strategy
Topics
-
Evidence 17 June 2025
House of Lords European Affairs Committee inquiry on The UK-EU reset
By Emily Lydgate et al.
View postSummary CITP publication
Professor Emily Lydgate provides oral evidence to the House of Lords European Affairs Committee inquiry on "The UK-EU reset", addressing questions on the outcomes of the recent EU-UK May summit, frictions that the SPS agreement would remove (or not), as well as the implications for existing border control posts established for post-Brexit checks, which could become redundant under such an agreement. Professor Lydgate highlights the EU-Swiss agreement as a useful reference point especially on exceptions, animal welfare, consultative processes, and dynamic alignment to see how the issues were resolved in implementation. Emily emphasised the importance of the UK avoiding an executive-led approach to dynamic alignment, noting that regulatory sovereignty is not the only legitimate democratic path.
Topics
-
Blog post 10 June 2025
Gene-editing: a barrier to proposed free flow of plant and animal products between the UK and EU?
By Jiyeong Go and Emily Lydgate.
View postSummary CITP publication
This blog sets out the differing EU and UK regulatory approaches to gene-editing and their potential implications for negotiating a common SPS area.
Topics
-
Briefing Paper 19 February 2025
Regulatory cooperation through trade: Trends, challenges and recommendations for middle-power countries
By Jiyeong Go, Emily Lydgate, Andrew Lang, Minako Morita Jaeger, Joris Hoste, Nicolò Tamberi and Bernard Hoekman et al.
View postSummary CITP publication
This Briefing Paper discusses the challenge for middle-power countries in global trade governance and explores institutional factors that facilitate successful dialogue on industrial policy and trade.
Topics
-
Blog post 17 February 2025
Changing firm behaviour, trade, and global decarbonization
By Emily Lydgate.
View postSummary CITP publication
Research finds that organisational standards, in conjunction with emerging regulatory requirements, are set to reshape firm-level trade strategies and international supply chains, but will only be globally effective if integrated into regulatory requirements, verified through robust conformity assessment and set through inclusive processes.
Topics
-
Academic Paper 7 January 2025
The UK's border carbon leakage trilemma
By Emily Lydgate and L. Alan Winters CB et al.
View postSummary CITP publication
Concern about manufacturing emissions relocating to places with lax climate regulation has led some countries, including the United Kingdom (UK), to consider, or introduce, carbon pricing on imported products in some sectors. Such regulations, known generically as Border Carbon Adjustments (BCAs), comprise the first mandatory requirements addressing emissions embodied in traded products. Existing analyses have identified BCA design options that minimize its controversial characteristics. In contrast, this article argues that optimization can only serve a subset of identified objectives: BCA design presents a policy trilemma between climate ambition, technical feasibility and international equity. The UK's status as a medium-sized economy proximate to the EU means that following EU BCA design, established through its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), will calibrate the UK's level of climate ambition (objective 1) to that of the EU, but lessen technical complexity (objective 2). It will not resolve international equity concerns (objective 3), but help the UK to address them diplomatically.
Topics