Call for Input: New Powers to Protect UK from Acts of Adverse Economic Pressure

As an open trading nation, the UK thrives on its connections with the world. International trade fuels economic growth in the UK, and delivers significant benefits for businesses, workers and consumers alike. However, rising geopolitical tensions and growing uncertainty are reshaping global trade dynamics. Unfair trading practices are emerging that disrupt supply chains and distort competition, sometimes aimed at forcing changes in law or policy.

When supply chains are disrupted, it is working people who feel it first—in higher prices at the checkout, in uncertainty about their jobs, and in the disruption to the businesses and industries their communities depend on.

That is why we recognised these risks in our Trade Strategy, published last year. We are already taking action to make our economy more resilient and secure, and we work closely with allies through the G7, the World Trade Organisation and the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership to challenge unfair practices wherever they occur. Now we are asking whether additional powers are needed, and on Thursday 9 April we launched a call for input to consider the case for developing new powers to reinforce our ability to respond to acts of adverse economic pressure against the UK.

We are seeking to understand whether the UK Government should strengthen the UK’s economic security and resilience against acts of adverse economic pressure, and if so how, while supporting growth, competitiveness, and our international obligations. This call for input will be open for 10 weeks and will aim to gather views from a broad range of stakeholders on the opportunities, risks, and implementation considerations associated with taking new powers. This includes perspectives from businesses, industry, consumer organisations, other representative and sector bodies, as well as insights from think-tanks, academics, the devolved Governments, Crown dependencies, and overseas territories.

We welcome the Business and Trade Committee’s recent inquiry into economic security and their agreement that the Government should explore new powers in this area.

To support this, my Department has published a summary of the Government’s existing powers in this area and set out the case for considering new powers, including what form such powers could take. A copy of the call for input document has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and is available on www.gov.uk.

This is about one thing: protecting working people from economic shocks they did nothing to cause. If new powers are required, we will introduce them. We will always try diplomacy first. But if that fails, families, businesses, and communities across the UK deserve to know that their Government have the tools to stand up for them. We are not changing who we are as a trading nation; we are making sure we can stay who we are, even when others play by different rules. This is what this call for input is about, and that is how we deliver growth that works for everyone.