This week marked the conclusion of talks between the UK and US on medicine, as the UK secured tariff-free access for its exports in the sector while paying more for US drugs. There is also a visit by the Russian president to India in the shadow of US action on India’s Russian oil purchases, and a hint at the US’ ongoing approach to international relationships in its new National Security Strategy.
The big picture: Trump’s tariffs were back on the agenda in the UK this week, as the country struck a deal with the US to avoid new duties on its pharmaceutical exports.
That came at the price of higher NHS spending on US medicines, as we reported in our coverage earlier this week. The UK will now invest an additional 25% in US drugs, cutting the cost-effectiveness threshold that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) can reclaim from drugmakers to 15%.
Science and technology minister Liz Kendall said that the deal “will ensure UK patients get the cutting-edge medicines they need sooner, and our world-leading UK firms keep developing the treatments that can change lives”.
We took a look at the broader state of play on the US’ tariff policy earlier this week in our latest member-exclusive Trade Insights feature. Experts told us that recent rollbacks to US tariffs on some food and agricultural products could open the door to lobbying by other sectors for cuts to duties.
Whether that results in concrete changes remains to be seen, but we’ll be reviewing the full story on the US’ year of protectionism in a review feature in next week's Daily Update.
Good week/bad week: A positive if potentially puzzling inclusion for US allies in this week’s publication of a US National Security Strategy, where the Trump administration said it will seek to boost “joint development with regional partners”, highlighting the “strategic resources” yet to be developed in the Western Hemisphere despite its imposition of major new tariffs on each of them. The strategy did warn, however, that the US would look to “rebalance America’s economic relationship with China on the basis of “reciprocity and fairness”.
Not such good news for UK farmers, who are losing £800m as a result of extreme rainfall in the autumn and winter of 2023/24, according to analysis by the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), in a report that’s indicative of the challenges global agricultural trade could face as a result of climate change.
How’s stat: US$100bn – that’s the volume of bilateral trade Russian president Vladimir Putin wants to see between his country and India. Putin made the remarks on a visit to see Indian prime minister Narendra Modi this week. He added that Russia is ready to provide “uninterrupted shipments” of its oil to India, a trade which has taken a hit following US tariffs and sanctions.
Quote of the week: “We are facing the risk of the disintegration of the international order that brought peace to the world for decades. In this context, dialogue between China and France is more essential than ever.”
French President Emmanuel Macron on the relationship between his country and China during a visit to Beijing this week.
The week in customs: There have been noises this week on the UK potentially rejoining the EU’s customs union, with justice secretary David Lammy remarking today that doing so would boost economic growth. He remarked:
“It’s self-evident that leaving the EU badly damaged our economy, took us out of an important marketplace and created serious friction. You can see countries like Turkey with a customs union seemingly benefiting and seeing growth in their economy, and again, that’s self-evident.”
Quizzed on the News Agents podcast on whether rejoining could become government policy, Lammy said it “would be subject to collective responsibility”.
What else we covered this week: Our latest Ask the Experts feature explored common Customs Declaration Service (CDS) pitfalls, as well as how you can reclaim overpaid duties.
In this week’s Export Controls Brief, we updated members on new guidance from government on licencing for export to Syria, as well as the latest on the UK’s efforts to join the EU’s new defence procurement scheme, which have stumbled in recent weeks.
A fresh instalment of our Trade Insights series explored the implications of the UK’s new Critical Minerals Strategy, where questions were raised over the size of a recent financial commitment to the sector.
The EU set out its plans to permanently ban all import of Russian gas – both in pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) form – by 2027. We covered that and more in this week’s Day in Trade updates.
The first windows were opened in our Commodity Code Advent Calendar, with a spiced beverage and Christmas caps among the discoveries.
True facts: Today is Walt Disney’s birthday. This year, a report (commissioned by Disneyland) found that the Walt Disney Company contributed almost $67bn in economic impact to the US economy, supporting 403,000 jobs.
