How the public prioritises specific economic and non-economic trade outcomes

Working with NatCen, our research into public attitudes towards UK trade policy priorities reveals that the general public wants to see a balance between economic growth and costs, be it with regard to the quality of products, labour conditions, the environment, and national industries.

Whilst it is generally held that international trade is a good thing that benefits society as a whole, the effects of trade can vary across different sectors, regions, and workers. In recent years, there has been growing concern about other issues which trade may affect, such as climate change, human rights, the environment and economic security. This is compounded by an ever-increasingly complex policy environment of geopolitics, global crises (e.g COVID-19) and rapid technical change.

As part of our UK Trade Policy Review, we therefore wanted to know what the UK general public wants from trade policy and their priorities for the ‘trade-offs’ involved in achieving those ambitions. To do this, we presented two case studies – on food standards and human and labour rights - that highlighted different trade-offs.

Balance economic growth with non-economic outputs

We found that the majority of participants (59%) prioritised maintaining food standards (a non-economic outcome) over the economic benefits of access to a wider range of food. When discussing this case study, participants balanced the need to protect UK farmers and the importance of affordable food in a cost-of-living crisis.

Most participants either prioritised or neither agreed nor disagreed (78%) with the non-economic outcome of improving human and labour rights over economic benefits to the UK and developing nations. Those who agreed that the UK should require poorer countries to improve their human and labour rights standards argued that human rights and fair labour conditions should be “non-negotiable” in trade deals and valued over economic growth in any country. When deliberating this trade-off, participants balanced the right of all people to decent working conditions with the UK’s right to influence the governance of another country.

Before and after the workshop, participants were asked to complete a survey on the level of priority the UK government should give to a number of different policy outcomes and participants prioritised both economic and non-economic trade outcomes. However, when deliberating the food standards and human and labour rights case studies the majority of participants prioritised non-economic outcomes over economic ones.

Our findings reveal that the general public wants to see UK policymakers pursue a trade policy that balances economic growth with non-economic outcomes, like the protection of human rights and high food standards, rather than one that focuses on economic growth alone.

Read the Public Deliberation on UK Trade Policy Priorities Report