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Talks around the UK-EU Reset continue 

Early September has seen a flurry of activity around the much-touted UK-EU reset. 

The month began with the Foreign Secretary heading to Dublin for a meeting of EU foreign ministers, and with the French President heading to London for talks with the PM as part of the launch of the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition. It was also announced the UK was in talks to rejoin EU security missions, though this is a longer-term development, with the BBC reporting the EU signed off its instructions to negotiators in late July. 

It remains to be seen how far negotiations on the reset will have progressed by November. Burnham’s signals on home tuition fees for EU students show an ability to make progress, Burnham’s commitments to stick by the red lines in the Labour manifesto mean he will likely hit the same general barriers in Brussels as Starmer’s government did. Furthermore, Politico has suggested that a real sign of success for Burnham would not be expanding the UK’s presence in the EU, but simply maintaining the current level of UK market access in the face of the Made in Europe and Technology Sovereignty Package changes which threaten to cut the UK out of key EU tech and manufacturing markets.  

This would be no mean feat though. As our latest report ‘Towards a UK-EU Partnership for a New Age’ makes clear, the UK and EU share one of the world's most integrated digital economies, worth over $350 billion in trade in 2024. The Technology Sovereignty Package would especially hit the UK’s cyber sector, Europe's largest and worth over €10.3 billion in 2025, hard and would damage the UK and EU’s ability to tackling shared threats. 

As MPs go on recess ahead of party conference season, we’ll be keeping an eye on the substance of what the government says at Labour Conference. In these negotiations, high rhetoric counts far less than the substance of how far the government is willing to go.  

techUK heads to Geneva for the WTO Public Forum 

techUK will be heading to Geneva next week for both the WTO Public Forum and World Tech and Trade Day.

The Public Forum is one of the world’s largest gatherings of trade policymakers from across the entire world, with the focus theme this year being on ‘Trade in Services’. World tech and Trade Day meanwhile focuses on AI and Trade. 

We’ll be heading there with member companies to hold meetings with delegations from around the world and with the UK Mission in Geneva. 

techUK members will receive daily updates of the latest happenings in Geneva and the conversations we’ve been happening. Members who wish to receive these updates should sign up to the International Tech Policy and Trade Working Group.  

If you are in Geneva then we’re keen to hear from you! Get in touch with sabina.ciofu@techuk.org and archie.breare@techuk.org if you’d like a chat.  

New chiefs in the FCDO and BIST 

The FCDO and BIST both saw new top civil servants appointed recently.

Lindy Cameron has been appointed new Permanent Under-Secretary at the FCDO after a stint as UK High Commissioner in India. Cameron also served as CEO of the UK National Cyber Security Centre from 2020-2024, so brings knowledge of the UK’s tech ecosystem and the importance of the cyber sector to her role.  

Meanwhile, Cat Little CB has moved from being Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office and the Civil Service’s Chief Operating Officer to take up the Permanent Secretary role at BIST. She brings experience of the Cabinet Office and of several financial roles in the Treasury, principally in finance, with her.  

We’ll be looking to have meetings with both of them soon as we welcome them into their new roles.  

New UK sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank 

The UK government, alongside France and Canada, has announced sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.  

The sanctions target both settlement goods, which under the UK Israel FTA are already distinguished from goods made on the Israeli side of the green line, but will also target companies and individuals providing services for the expansion of settlements.

Many of the announced sanctions will require primary legislation to be implemented, with the government announcing this legislation will be written in the coming months.  

New APPG report on barriers to trade 

Last week, the International Trade and Investment APPG published their report ‘Navigating the Trade Triangle’, based on interviews with business.  

The report has found that while support does exist for exports, businesses are concerned this support is not well signposted, is fragmented, and is difficult to navigate generally. Businesses are also keen for support to help navigate specific markets. It follows a report from the Scottish Government on services trade in August. 

We support the broad conclusions of both reports, which reflect the findings of our ‘Spreading Wings’ report from the start of the year where we called on government to provide a better service to exporters and to fully utilise its networks abroad to help UK firms access other markets and deepen their presence abroad.  

UK clears last CPTPP ratification 

On 1 September, CPTPP terms entered into force on trade between the UK and Canada, meaning UK businesses now have full access to the bloc. Amongst the benefits include broader access to public procurement opportunities and more generous business mobility rules.  

techUK is taking a delegation to Ottawa in late September, where delegates will meet with Canadian government officials, tech companies and defence policymakers. Any tech companies considering expanding to Canada, or who have done and would like to deepen their presence in the Canadian market, can register on the techUK website. 

US-Canada tariff battle escalates 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced another series of tariffs on $20bn of US goods as he warned the trade war ‘will come at a cost’.  It follows a series of escalations in the trade dispute between the US and Canada, which presents a clear danger of raising prices and costs for consumers and businesses in both countries.