The UK government’s continued focus on traditional free trade agreements (FTAs) is misaligned with the country’s service-based economy, according to a new report from the Tony Blair Institute (TBI), which calls for a fundamental rethink of Britain’s trade policy.
The think tank argues that lengthy, goods-focused FTAs offer diminishing returns and are poorly matched to the UK’s core strengths in services and digital trade. Instead, it recommends a pivot towards targeted market access deals that can be negotiated more quickly and deliver faster economic impact.
“FTAs take years to negotiate, often centre on goods sectors of lesser significance to the UK’s service-led economy, and can quickly become politically outdated,” the report warns.
Between 2020 and 2024, the UK signed just three new FTAs, which are expected to boost exports by £9.5 billion in the long run. In contrast, over the same period, the government resolved 640 market access barriers, which the TBI says deliver greater value, more rapidly.
The institute’s analysis comes as the UK nears completion of a new trade agreement with the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) — a bloc including Saudi Arabia and Qatar — which has been under negotiation since 2022. Chancellor Rachel Reeves said this week that a deal with the GCC is “the next” in the pipeline as the government seeks to strengthen post-Brexit trade ties.
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