Why DIT is doing it:

• Reducing trade barriers is a key aspect of Government’s value generating and values led independent trade policy and supports UK businesses to grow internationally in a sustainable way. The new service provides information on trade barriers to support businesses with their considerations of international markets.
• Barriers include individual tariffs, non-tariff barriers (NTBs), overseas direct investment (ODI) restrictions, and other unnecessary, costly, or out of date requirements that impede the ability of UK firms to trade and invest effectively.  OECD analysis (2019) shows cutting tariffs, and addressing unnecessary costs associated with non-tariff measures, could increase trade by over 20% among G20 economies. It is estimated that such liberalisation could boost UK exports by £75bn a year.
• The service will be specific to UK businesses and accessible to all. While the WTO, EU, UN, and US all provide public databases of trade barriers, these are not necessarily specific to UK exporters and are not easy to navigate, particularly for first time exporters or SMEs who may be inexperienced in these services.
• It builds on the ‘Check how to export goods’ service, which replaces the service currently provided by the EU portals – there is an expectation that trade barrier information should be made available by the end of the Transition Period to provide continuity.

Learn more here.