LONDON — The British government is working to give its trade chief new powers to move faster in imposing higher tariffs on imports, as it faces pressure from Brussels and Washington to combat Chinese industrial overcapacity. Under new rules drawn up by British officials, Trade Secretary Peter Kyle will have the power to direct the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) to launch investigations and give ministers options to set higher duty levels to protect domestic businesses. The trade watchdog will be required to set out the results of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations within a year, better monitor trade distortions and streamline processes for businesses to prompt trade probes. The U.K. is in negotiations with the U.S. and the EU to forge a steel alliance to counter Chinese overcapacity as the bloc works to introduce its own updated safeguards regime. The EU is the U.K.’s largest market and Brussels is creating a new steel protection regime that is set to slash Britain’s tariff-free export quotas and place 50 percent duties on any in excess. The government said its directive to the TRA will align the U.K. with similar powers in the EU and Australia, and follow World Trade Organization rules. It is set out in a Strategic Steer to the watchdog and will be introduced as part of the finance bill due to be wrapped up in the spring. “We are strengthening the U.K.’s system for tackling unfair trade to give our producers and manufacturers — especially SMEs who have less capacity and capability — the backing they need to grow and compete,” Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle said in a statement. “By streamlining processes and aligning our framework with international peers, we are ensuring U.K. industry has the tools to protect jobs, attract investment and thrive in a changing global economy,” Kyle added. These moves come after the government said on Wednesday that its Steel Strategy, which plots the future of the industry in Britain and new trade protections for the sector, will be delayed until next year. The Trump administration has been concerned about the U.K.’s steps to counter China’s steel overcapacity and refused to lower further a 25 percent tariff carve-out for Britain’s steel and aluminum exports from the White House’s 50 percent global duties on the metals. Trade Secretary Kyle discussed lowering the Trump administration’s tariffs on U.K. steel with senior U.S. Cabinet members in Washington on Wednesday.  “We are very much on the case of trying to sort out precisely where we land with the EU safeguard,” Trade Minister Chris Bryant told parliament Thursday, after meeting with EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič on Wednesday for negotiations. “We will do everything we can to make sure that we have a strong and prosperous steel sector across the whole of the U.K.,” Bryant said. The TRA has also launched a new public-facing Import Trends Monitor tool to help firms detect surges in imports that could harm their business and provide evidence that could prompt an investigation by the watchdog. “We welcome the government’s strategic steer, which marks a significant milestone in our shared goal to make the U.K.’s trade remedies regime more agile, accessible and assertive, as well as providing greater accountability,” said the TRA’s Co-Chief Executives Jessica Blakely and Carmen Suarez. Sophie Inge and Jon Stone contributed reporting.

LONDON — The U.K. will break China’s stranglehold over crucial net zero supply chains, Energy Minister Chris McDonald has pledged. McDonald, a joint minister at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Department for Business and Trade, told POLITICO he is determined to bolster domestic access to critical minerals. Critical minerals like lithium and copper are used in essential net-zero technologies such as electric vehicles and batteries, as well as defense assets like F35 fighter jets. China currently controls 90 percent of rare earth refining, according to a government critical minerals strategy published last week. McDonald said China’s dominance of mineral processing risks driving up prices for the net zero transition.  The U.K. has made a legally-binding pledge to reduce planet-damaging emissions to net zero by 2050. McDonald fears China has become a “monopoly provider” of critical minerals and that its dominant role in processing allowed China to control the costs for buyers. “We want to capture this supply chain in the U.K. as part of our industrial strategy. To do that … means, ultimately, we’re going to have to wrest control of critical minerals back into a broad group of countries, not just China,” he said. The government’s critical minerals strategy includes a target that no more than 60 percent of U.K. annual demand for critical minerals in aggregate is supplied by any one country by 2035 — including China. “So, if there is an investment from China that helps with that, then that’s great. And if it doesn’t help with that, or it sort of compounds that issue that isn’t consistent with our strategy, then we judge it on that basis ultimately,” McDonald said. Additional reporting by Graham Lanktree.

In a luxury Saudi hotel some 3,000 miles away from her economic woes, Britain’s Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered a plucky pitch to some of the wealthiest people on the planet. “I believe that countries are successful when they are open and trading — I think that’s good for productivity because competition spurs productivity, growth,” she told business leaders at the Fortune Global Forum last month. “And in a small and open economy like Britain’s … we want our businesses to be able to access global markets.” With this in mind, the chancellor said, Britain was striking trade deals with the EU, the U.S., as well as fast-growing economies like India, as she teased “big opportunities” from an upcoming free trade agreement with Gulf countries. With a difficult budget looming, the chancellor has increasingly turned her gaze overseas in her elusive search for economic growth. And with the Office for Budget Responsibility expected to downgrade the U.K.’s productivity outlook before the budget, Reeves is urging the fiscal watchdog to positively “score” new trade deals according to how much growth they might deliver. But her efforts may be in vain. Far from being the magic bullet that will reinvigorate the economy, the benefits of trade deals may take years to materialize — and some government claims appear to be overstated, experts have told POLITICO. EU ‘RESET’ HOPES By the government’s estimation, its plans to “reset” its relationship with the European Union will add nearly £9 billion to the U.K. economy by 2040, equivalent to a GDP boost of 0.3 percent. Key elements include deals on agrifood, energy trading, and a youth mobility scheme.  Separate analysis by John Springford, an associate fellow at the Centre for European Reform in London, is more optimistic, predicting a GDP boost of between 0.3 and 0.7 percent over ten years as a result of the agreement. The biggest uplifts, he claims, would come from a youth mobility deal.  But negotiations on key elements of the deal have only just begun, and Springford admits details are still “a bit sketchy.” As a result, he says, it would be difficult for the OBR to accept Reeves’ ask to score these deals, which would also take a long time to play out. Even if the government’s estimates are met, he added, the deal will do little to reverse the overall damage caused by Brexit, which the OBR estimates will reduce the U.K.’s long-run productivity by 4 percent. “The damage caused by Brexit can never be significantly repaired without getting rid of one or all of the government’s ‘red lines’,” he continued, in reference to Labour’s refusal to rejoin the single market or customs union.  In recent months the chancellor has talked about the impact of Brexit on the economy, but has suggested this impact can be offset by the reset deal, as well as by trade deals with non-EU countries. “There is no doubting that the impact of Brexit is severe and long lasting,” she said in an interview with Sky News in October, “and that is why we are trying to do trade deals around the world, with the U.S., India, but most importantly with the EU, so that our exporters here in Britain have a chance to sell things made here all around the world.” Guests at the Fortune Global Forum 2025 Gala Dinner. | Cedric Ribeiro/Getty Images for Fortune Media But Ahmet Kaya, principal economist at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said the EU deal was “more symbolic than transformative.”  “It slightly eases checks on agri-food products, which should help certain sectors, but the macroeconomic effect is minimal considering that the government’s impact estimate is just £9 billion — which is cumulative gain over time — relative to the size of the £3.6 trillion economy.” INDIA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT Reeves will also be pinning her growth hopes on the U.K.’s recently completed free trade agreement with India, which the government predicts will boost U.K. GDP by 0.13 percent, worth £4.8 billion a year.  The deal will ultimately see India remove tariffs on up to 90 percent of U.K. exports and cut India’s average effective tariffs on U.K. goods from roughly 15 percent to 3 percent, with significant benefits for Britain’s automotive and Scotch whisky exports. But Sophie Hale, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation, said it could take 10 to 15 years for the full effects of the deal to be felt, partly because many tariff reductions will be introduced gradually and are subject to quotas. “Given the OBR is looking over a five-year window, we really aren’t going to expect a big impact,” she said. “Even if it was spread evenly, you’re maybe getting less than half of that by the end of the forecast, because it has to actually be implemented.” The deal is “definitely worth having,” Hale added. “But in terms of … OBR productivity growth forecasts or shifting the dial on U.K. growth, it’s pretty small and a lot of those impacts are going to be delayed.”  TARIFF TERRORS Reeves will also be hoping that the U.K.’s Economic Prosperity Deal with the U.S. — announced with much fanfare in May — will have gone some way in cushioning the impact of President Donald Trump’s punitive tariff regime. The deal saw the U.K. hit with 10 percent baseline tariffs on most goods, with reduced duties for automotives, steel and aluminum, and increased market access for agricultural exports.  While this gave Britain a comparative advantage over most other countries, it has still left the U.K. in a weaker trade position with the U.S. than a year ago. According to NIESR’s latest forecast, U.S. tariffs have reduced U.K. growth by around 0.1 percentage points this year and 0.2 percentage points next year.  “That’s a smaller drag than expected in March, reflecting the more moderate global spill-overs from tariffs, but the overall impact remains negative,” said Kaya. But even this remains uncertain. Like the EU deal agreed earlier this year, much of the EPD remains under negotiation, including pharmaceutical tariffs, which makes it difficult to “score” in terms of its economic impact. MAKING TRADE DEALS WORK Even when trade deals are fully agreed and implemented, their economic impacts are not guaranteed, and it is sometimes an uphill struggle to get businesses to actually make use of them.  “Trade deals have the potential to support economic growth, but their impact does not appear overnight and needs time and support to make it happen,” noted George Riddell, managing director of the Goyder trade consultancy.  “Businesses need to make connections with local customers, understand local regulatory requirements and establish partnerships to help with relevant legal, tax and customs procedures.” In the government’s trade strategy, published over the summer, the Department for Business and Trade committed to overhauling how it supports U.K. businesses and provides export advice through a “one-stop-shop.”  “While the new website is a substantial improvement on what was there before, more needs to be done to get businesses using it,” said Riddell.  Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves will be hoping that the U.K.’s Economic Prosperity Deal with the U.S. will have gone some way in cushioning the impact of President Donald Trump’s punitive tariff regime. | Pool photo by Jordan Pettitt/AFP via Getty Images Trade Minister Chris Bryant acknowledged this issue in a recent speech, telling businesses the estimates of the economic impact of trade deals could only be realized “if businesses are ambitious enough to exploit these opportunities.”  “It’s not just about signing free trade agreements,” he said at a pitching event for exporters earlier this month. “We can sign FTAs, we can do all that negotiating … But it’s exploiting those FTAs once they’ve been signed that is really important and will actually drive growth.” Looking back at the U.K.’s first post-Brexit trade deals, David Henig, director of the UK Trade Policy Project at the European Centre for International Political Economy think tank, says there is little sign of material impact. “There is currently no evidence that the new trade deals with Australia and New Zealand have affected the U.K. economy in any meaningful sense,” he said, adding there was “nothing that indicates any permanent increase in trade so far.” ‘BEATING THE FORECASTS’ As the budget approaches, Reeves’ growth ambitions look increasingly uncertain. The OBR has downgraded the U.K.’s productivity outlook, potentially increasing government borrowing by £14 billion and £20 billion. Just last week, figures from the Office for National Statistics show that U.K. GDP fell unexpectedly by 0.1 percent in September. Publicly, at least, the chancellor has remained upbeat. “My job as chancellor is to try and beat those forecasts,” she said last month, “and what we’re doing with those trade deals with India, the U.S. and the EU, the investments that we’ve secured, including from big tech companies in the U.K., shows that we have a huge amount to offer as a place to grow a business, to start and scale a business.  “We’ll continue to secure those investments in all parts of Britain, to create those good jobs, paying wages and to boost our productivity, which means that we will start to see those numbers coming through in economic growth and prosperity for working people.” James Fitzgerald contributed to this report.

BIRMINGHAM, England — The U.K. government has said that trade retaliation remains on the table in response to the European Union’s new steel safeguard measures. The proposals would impose 50 percent tariffs on imports above a strict new quota, dealing a devastating blow to Britain’s embattled steelmakers, which export half of what they produce to the EU. Speaking at the Trade Remedy Authority’s annual summit in Birmingham, Kate Joseph, the Department for Business and Trade’s director general for trade relations, said: “We have a number of different options available to us, and at this point, we’re not making any decisions about how we would use them, but all of this remains possible.” Joseph added that the U.K. is “clear that we will do what we need to do in order to defend the steel industry.”  Industry Minister Chris McDonald is meeting with steelmakers on Thursday to listen to their concerns, and EU Trade chief Maroš Sefčovič is set to meet with his U.K. counterpart at the G20 trade ministers meeting in South Africa this weekend. A senior EU official said the bloc has “no other choice” and is “in deep trouble because of this problem of overcapacities,” but encouraged the two slides to sit down and discuss outcomes.  “We are in constant conversation with EU colleagues, and we’ll continue that conversation over the next few days,” said Joseph. “At the moment, I think it’s probably unclear exactly how this is going to play out.” 

LONDON — Britain’s business and trade ministry is preparing to cut 600 roles from its overseas network, raising concerns about the government’s ability to support British exporters abroad. The ministry is also reeling from a sweeping Cabinet reshuffle, with all of its previous ministers moving into other departments or leaving government over the weekend. It comes as the U.K. navigates a rapidly shifting global trade order and battles to attract investment to drive the government’s growth agenda. The overseas cuts are part of a broader plan to reduce the Department for Business and Trade’s headcount by 20 percent — with most redundancies expected before April 2027. A figure familiar with the developments said staff are concerned about the pace and scale of the cuts.  While a Voluntary Exit Scheme ran in June, uptake fell short of the department’s target, according to the person. Permanent Secretary Gareth Davies is now refusing to rule out compulsory redundancies. James Manning, a former U.K. trade negotiator, said: “While efficiencies are clearly needed given the fiscal challenges facing the government, reducing the U.K.’s overseas trade policy and promotion staffing at a time when the global trade system is under extreme strain is a clear risk.” He added that “it will likely make it harder for ministers’ to deliver on their pledge to boost support to U.K. exporters, as set out in the Trade Strategy published earlier this year.” Some export promotion work is expected to shift to foreign office staff, with diplomats asked by former Foreign Secretary David Lammy to promote the U.K. overseas.  But Manning, now a director at FTI Consulting, warned: “Given the UK’s trade expertise has been highly concentrated in the Department for Business and Trade and its predecessor departments, it is also unlikely that the FCDO will be able to immediately plug the capability gaps this will inevitably create.” THREAT OF OFFICE CLOSURES  DBT is also threatening the closure of nine regional offices outside London — with planned consultations due to begin. These include Bristol, Cambridge, Glasgow, Guildford, Ipswich, Leeds, Newcastle, Nottingham, and Titchfield.  The Guildford office has already closed, while the Bristol and Titchfield offices are set to shut in early 2026, according to the person cited above. These regional offices help local businesses access government support and promote trade and investment in the region.  PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote said the government has done this “without even a nod to union consultation and without offering any kind of rationale.” She called the 20 percent reduction of staff “a personal disaster for many of our dedicated members as well as for the effectiveness of the department.”  “Any agreed future changes must be transparent and implemented carefully to help allay the serious anxiety that DBT staff are feeling,” she urged.  The Department for Business and Trade said no final decision had been taken on where cuts would fall, adding it is standard practice to review agreements when office leases come up for renewal.  “As part of Government plans to reshape the state and deliver our Plan for Change, DBT will support a leaner and more efficient Civil Service, helping to reduce administration costs by 15% by the end of the decade and to avoid duplication across departments,” said a DBT spokesperson. “In line with these plans, we propose to reduce the Department in size, but we will look to avoid redundancies wherever possible.”

LONDON — The U.K.’s trade deal with Donald Trump was touted as a post-Brexit win. Months later, as America’s global tariff regime starts to take shape, Brits aren’t feeling quite so lucky — and some are downright cheesed off.   Under the Economic Prosperity Deal agreed with the U.S. in May, most British goods exported to America are subject to 10 percent “reciprocal” tariffs. This is in addition to existing tariffs — known to traders as most-favored nation (MFN) rates.  By contrast, the EU struck a deal with Trump in July that would see goods from the bloc hit with an all-inclusive 15 percent tariff — except where the existing MFN rate is higher. That means many U.K. products with an MFN rate above 5 percent will now be hit by higher tariffs than competing EU products — and cheese in the firing line. “Overall, U.K. goods will get somewhat better [treatment] than European Union products,” explained Ed Gresser, director for trade and global markets at the Progressive Policy Institute and a former policy adviser to the United States Trade Representative. “This also appears to be the case for the very top U.K. exports to the U.S. cars, medicines, oil — which bring in the most money, and for wines and liquors.” The U.K.’s trade deal with Donald Trump was touted as a post-Brexit win. | EPA/FRANCIS CHUNG / / POOL “However, there will also be many specific cases in which EU goods get better treatment than British goods,” Gresser added. “These include some probably emotive and visible ones, such as cheddar and Stilton cheese, and Shetland wool sweaters.” Under the current U.S. tariff regime, British cheddar exported to the U.S. would be hit by overall tariffs of between 20 and 26 percent — depending on the packaging and processing — while the EU would get tariffs of between 15 and 16 percent. IRISH COMPETITION The discrepancy has not gone unnoticed by British cheesemakers, who fear they could now be undercut by their European rivals.  “Overall, U.K. dairy — and cheesemakers in particular — have been presented with a worse deal than their EU competitors as a result of the U.S.-U.K. agreement,” said Rod Addy, director general of the Provision Trade Federation, which represents British cheesemakers. The difference between U.K. and EU tariff rates “suggests EU exporters, particularly [in] Ireland, may benefit relative to the U.K.,” he added. “Given that cheddar accounts for roughly three quarters of all U.K. dairy exports, that is highly significant.” The U.K. exported 9,855 metric tons of cheese and curd products in 2024 worth over £75 million, data from the Britain’s Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board shows. According to the latest data available for 2025, the U.K. exported around 4,365 metric tons between January and June worth over £36 million. Coombe Castle International, a major exporter of cheese to the U.S., is among the British cheese businesses feeling the strain. Currently, the U.S. market makes up around a third of its business. But they now fear tariffs could reduce demand for their cheeses, amid increased competition from the EU. “It does look like we are now disadvantaged compared to Europe, and that’s certainly going to hurt us when it comes to cheddar and butter, where we’ve got direct competition in the EU,” said Darren Larvin, Coombe Castle International’s managing director. “Tariffs have come at the wrong time. We have a relatively high milk price, a weak dollar and prices are high with the cost of living. All of those put together mean it’s quite tough at the moment. So we could really do without having any further costs.” Larvin said that like “most people” in the industry, Coombe Castle have “had to pass all of that on to the consumer in the U.S. … We’re just not in a position to share any of that [extra cost]. We’ll see how that goes through the chain and what effect that has on demand.” Shortly after the EU’s deal with the U.S. was announced, Larvin contacted the Department for Business and Trade to ask them how they planned to protect U.K. dairy exports to the U.S.  Their response left him nonplussed. In response, an official said only that negotiations to reduce the 10 percent tariff rate were continuing, making comparisons “difficult.” GOVERNMENT ‘MORE CONCERNED WITH LAND ROVERS’ British Stilton makers have also been left disappointed by the U.K.-U.S. deal, with the cheese now facing duties of between 22 and 27 percent, depending on the type of Stilton. “Effectively, it’s another 10 percent on the cost of the product which is very unhelpful for everyone,” said Robin Skailes, managing director of the family-run Stilton maker Cropwell Bishop Creamery, which exports around £2.5 million of cheese to the U.S. each year. “I can understand why the U.S. government are doing it. But what I don’t like necessarily is how our government advertises that as a success and a deal. It’s not a deal because we’re actually worse off than they are in Europe. “What our government should have done is factored in some of the existing tariffs that are already there. … But they may not have even known that. I mean, why would they bother with Stilton? They are more concerned with Land Rovers, that was the big thing. Food is never at the top of their agenda.” It’s too early to tell whether tariffs will reduce demand for British cheese in the U.S. | Til Buergy/EPA As a result of the additional tariffs, Skailes said the firm would take a “massive hit” to their margins and has already had to pass on some of the extra cost to the consumer. “We can share some of the pain, but there’s not a huge amount of margin in food. We’re not selling iPhones — we don’t make trillions of dollars.” For now, it’s too early to tell whether tariffs will reduce demand for British cheese in the U.S. but Coombe Castle’s Larvin is not optimistic. “It will certainly make us less competitive — and we’re certainly less competitive compared to Europe now.”   A spokesperson for the U.K.’s Department for Business and Trade said: “The U.K.’s landmark trade deal is the result of a pragmatic approach to working with the US. We will continue to work with the US to get this deal implemented as soon as possible to give industry the security they need, protect vital jobs, and put more money in people’s pockets through the Plan for Change.”

LONDON — Britain’s trade department is bracing for a 20 percent cut to its workforce as the country grapples with an unpredictable U.S. president and seeks new trade opportunities to kickstart its sluggish economy. Staff at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) have been warned that their 8,000-strong workforce will shrink to 6,500. The plan to reduce headcount is being rolled out in phases, according to three figures familiar with the plans, who like others in this story were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record. A hiring freeze is currently in place, and the department is already seeking voluntary redundancies. If targets are not met, some staff could face compulsory redundancies, according to two of the figures. Staff were first warned DBT’s headcount would shrink by more than 20 percent around the time the government published its spending plans for the next three years in June. They were also told efficiency savings would be a main priority for the department. Extra money was announced at the time to fund voluntary exits across the civil service. A Voluntary Exit Scheme for the department was launched on June 2 and ran until June 20. But one person familiar with the planning said DBT’s target of 950 volunteers looks out of reach. That scheme is due to be completed by April 2026.  The Business Group — DBT’s sectoral and industry-facing arm, which engages with British business sectors — will be the hardest hit with up to 38 percent cuts. Staff promoting exports are also expecting major reductions.  This is due to duplication of roles, since DBT was carved out of two Whitehall departments in 2023, inheriting business-facing teams from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and export promotion roles from the Department for International Trade, according to two of the figures mentioned above. Some export promotion work is expected to be taken on by foreign office staff. Diplomats have already been asked by Foreign Secretary David Lammy to promote the U.K. overseas, overlapping with some of the export promotion team’s mandate. Former Tory Investment Minister Dominic Johnson said the DBT was “potentially one of the most cost-effective and useful mechanisms in government to achieve wealth,” but said he understood the focus on cuts to the export promotion team. “The idea that we should have a sales force around the world helping business is never really that effective,” he told POLITICO. He added that businesses really want “low tax, easy employment rules and well-designed fluid regulations,” adding that the “idea that the government can somehow ‘do business’ is nuts and is all that’s wrong with the world today.” Trade veteran David Henig, a former government adviser now at the European Center for International Political Economy said he “would expect this to be taking a lot of staff time and energy.” “Obviously fewer numbers may mean choices in what to prioritize,” he said. “I do think this government has undervalued the role of DBT, [as] implementing the trade and industrial strategies are crucial to U.K. growth.” A government spokesperson confirmed it plans to “reduce the department in size.” While “no department-wide recruitment freeze has been put in place, the changes are designed to maximize [its] efficiency, ensuring [they] have the right expertise in the right place, while also delivering for British business,” they added. The spokesperson said Chancellor Rachel Reeves had allocated £150 million to fund an employee exit scheme supporting “a leaner and more efficient civil service, helping to reduce [Whitehall-wide] administration costs by 15 percent by the end of the decade.”