Rachel Reeves could increase growth and lower inflation by making international trade easier
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has expressed her desire for more growth and lower inflation, but not how she could achieve it by making international trade easier, say leading audit, tax and business advisory firm, Blick Rothenberg.
Jim Brown, chief operating officer at the firm, said: “At today’s Labour conference, despite mentioning the UK’s trade deals with the US and India, that she wants growth to increase and inflation to decrease, the chancellor did not discuss the ways the government could boost the economy by making international trade easier.”
He added: “Rachel Reeves stated she wanted to remove obstacles for British businesses and ‘unlock’ their potential; making international trade less challenging would help achieve this. Stronger businesses means more growth and lower prices, which benefits everyone.”
Jim said: “Examples of things that Rachel Reeves could do are:
- Accelerate the digitisation of processes such as carnets (that allow temporary exports of goods without paying customs charges), a process that began in 2001 and still isn’t anticipated to go fully live until Q2 of 2026
- Involve business leaders in understanding the cross-border challenges they face, some as routine as opening a bank account, and how they can overcome them.
- Provide more guidance on how to tackle complex paperwork such as visa requirements for roles where we have skills shortages in the UK.”
He added: “We act for many businesses who seek to establish in the UK, creating jobs and investment, or that sell overseas. The drumbeat for a number of years now has been that it is getting harder and harder to do business across borders. The government should focus on making it as simple as possible for our great companies and workforce to do what they do best rather than being tied up in unnecessary paperwork.”