A leading industry body leader has called on the Government to ‘kick-start a trade-focused recovery’ to support UK importers and exporters.
Trade in goods for December 2021, and the year as a whole, showed a modest recovery, particularly in exports.
This is from the 2020 pandemic low and has prompted a leading light at the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) to call for the Government to engage with the EU to improve the two-way flow of goods and services.
The statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the UK is importing more gas and other fuels from outside the EU over recent months, while increased exports to the EU in late 2021 were driven by higher exports of fuels, chemicals and machinery and transport equipment.
Significant room for improvement
According to the figures, a similar position applied in terms of non-EU trade. Agri-food, machinery and transport equipment, and material manufacturers exports to the EU are essentially flat over the last two or so years.
For non-EU exports material manufacturers exports rose while machinery and transport equipment exports fell (by £1.2 billion).
Commenting on figures, William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the BCC, said: “A late 2021 upswing in UK goods trade, particularly in chemicals exports to Ireland, doesn’t hide the significant room for improvement in trade needed if the UK is to make the most of recovery from the depths of the pandemic in 2020.
“With data from the first full year of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) now available, the UK is trading less with the EU, than it was three years ago. This gap is not currently being made up in terms of trade with the rest of the world.
“These figures show why the UK Government and European Commission should engage positively with our recommendations to improve the two-way flow of goods and services. To kick-start a trade-focused recovery there needs to be further action from policymakers to support UK importers and exporters.”
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