It covered many areas, of course, but to highlight some that may affect international trade within the Innovation part of his speech the Chancellor said:

“We have a national genius for innovation. Britain is the land of Newton, Darwin, Fleming, Faraday, Franklin, Gilbert and Berners Lee. …. The country with the largest life sciences largest technology sectors in Europe. …. So as a former entrepreneur, .… I want to combine our technology and science brilliance with our formidable financial services to turn Britain into the world’s next Silicon Valley. …

So today, using our Brexit freedoms, I confirm the next step in our supply side transformation. ….

By the end of next year, we will decide and announce changes to EU regulations in our five growth industries: digital technology, life sciences, green industries, financial services and advanced manufacturing. ….

To further spur competition, I have listened to requests from businesses and today I’m removing import tariffs on over 100 goods used by UK businesses in their production processes, from car seat parts to bicycle frames.  I will also change our approach to investment zones which will now focus on leveraging our research strengths, to help build clusters for our new growth industries.”

The removal of import duties will be linked to the introduction of tariff suspension measures for two years. As the speech said this will affect over 100 goods, including aluminium frames used by UK bicycle manufacturers and ingredients used by food producers. The highest duty rate being suspended is 18%. The tariff suspension measures are linked to the applications made by UK businesses to the Department of International Trade (DIT) in 2021 and will be the first UK independent tariff suspension scheme.

Information on how the tariff suspension applications were assessed and also the confirmation of existing tariff suspensions remaining valid until 31^st December 2022 when the new UK scheme is expected to start can be found here. This page was updated on 17 November 2022 after the Chancellor speech to include the outcome of the 2021 duty suspension window where you can download the list of suspensions. Trade Tariff List of Suspensions

The Chancellors full statement can be found here: Read More