Government's Trade Strategy: What small businesses need to know

The government has published its new Trade Strategy, which is aimed at helping businesses benefit from international trade. Here are the small business-related measures.

Link to the government's SME Growth Strategy

The government has already published its Industrial Strategy and will release its SME Growth Strategy for small businesses in July. In the Trade Strategy, the government says: "These three interlocking strategies will work together to set out the government's offer to support growth".

Removing regulatory barriers to trading overseas

The Ricardo Fund, named after 18th century British economist David Ricardo, will be used to "tackle complex regulatory issues, shape global standards, and remove obstacles for UK businesses selling abroad".

The strategy references BSI research which found that £6.1bn of additional UK exports per year can already be attributed to compatibility with other standards regimes.

Expanding capacity of UK Export Finance (UKEF)

The funding for UKEF, the government's export credit agency, will increase by £20bn to £80bn so it can provide export credit guarantees and other support to businesses wanting to trade internationally. UKEF aims to support UK businesses to win over £12.5 billion of export contracts by 2029.

UKEF will has launched a new Small Export Builder export insurance service to make export protection more accessible to smaller businesses seeking financial security when trading internationally. The government guidance says:

"If you are applying for multiple contract insurance and you request an initial credit limit of £25,000 or less, you may be eligible for the Small Export Builder. The Small Export Builder lets you increase your credit insurance limit incrementally from an initial credit limit of £25,000 up to a maximum credit limit of £100,000 as you build up a positive trading history with your buyer."

The government is also introducing a 'repeat order guarantee' to ensure that "international buyers can easily keep accessing goods and services from their most trusted UK suppliers of all sizes and in a more streamlined way without the need of repeated applications, reducing red tape for business". The government says it "will help businesses to plan ahead and give greater assurance to UK-based supply chains".

Modernising export support services

The government says it will take various steps to maximise the benefits of digitisation in digital trade.

Businesses have complained that the export advice and information on government websites is hard to find and understand, so the government says it will take "a new, and consistently digital-first approach" to "provide clearer, more accessible and more customer-focused guidance for exporters". Later this year, the government will integrate its export services for SMEs into the new Business Growth Service.

The government says it will pilot 'digital trade corridors' with European countries "to help businesses use electronic trade paperwork in international trade transactions, and show how using electronic trade documents (ETDs) can streamline business processes".

The UK was the first G7 country to put ETDs on the same legal footing as paper documents via the Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 (ETDA).

A new "SME capability programme" will be launched to support SMEs in harnessing the benefits of digitalisation, and an information hub on ETDs will launch this summer on Gov.UK to help businesses embrace trade digitalisation.

Digital trade agreements

The government says it will pursue more digital trade agreements with other countries to remove the barriers to digital trade.

It says it has initiated dialogues with Brazil, Thailand, Kenya, and Malaysia and other nations to explore negotiating new bilateral digital trading agreements.

It is also "actively exploring the possibility of acceding to the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), if it's in our national interest". Membership is currently New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, and the Republic of Korea.

International markets to trade with

The strategy says North America and Europe will remain among the biggest markets for trade in value terms, but it "the greatest opportunities for expansion could come from elsewhere, including Asia and the Middle East".

The government says it will identify and target opportunities with the highest impact on growth, using resources such as the Global Trade Outlook 2025 which was published alongside the Trade Strategy.