Critical minerals are ‘critical’ to the manufacture of vital 21st century products as electric vehicles, mobile phones, solar panels, clean technology, and defence equipment. These mineral reserves are also found in considerable quantities outside of non-Western countries. China has been quick off the mark in building out the processing and manufacturing infrastructure that gives them supply chain dominance but creates risks of supply chain weaponisation. To reduce this dependency and risk, the UK, EU, US and others have all developed different approaches to securing access to these supply chains.

In this podcast, we explore what some of these approaches are, their pros and cons, and what considerations must inform sustained global cooperation on critical minerals. Joining our host Chris Horseman (Borderlex) are Sunayana Sasmal (UKTPO / University of Sussex), Dan Marks (Royal United Services Institute) and Tim Figures (Boston Consulting Group).

In January, Trump threatened to impose tariffs on eight European countries who opposed his demand to take control of Greenland. Whilst this threat was later dropped, following discussions with NATO SC, what is the role of trade policy in the face of economic coercion?

This podcast discusses the use of trade policy instruments in a coercive manner, the issues hanging over EU-US and UK-US trade relations, and where this positions the UK and the international rules-based trading system. Joining our host Chris Horseman (Borderlex) are Emily Lydgate (CITP), Allie Renison (SEC Newgate) and David Henig (ECIPE).

This episode of Trade Bites looks at competition and industrial policy. China's strong industrial policies and state-backed dominance have fuelled global competition. Recently, this has led to the US, Europe and developed countries, including the UK, implementing much more activist industrial policies to support their own producers and to ensure supplies of strategically important goods.

Is a level playing field a luxury that we can no longer afford in these days of geopolitical contention, or is the pendulum swinging too far away from notions of open competition?

To discuss these important points are Aditi Sara Verghese (World Economic Forum), Anne-Claire Hoyng (Prosus), Peter Holmes (UKTPO, University of Sussex) and our host Chris Horseman (Borderlex).

In today's episode of Trade Bites, we're discussing the Pan-Euro Mediterranean Convention on Rules of Origin (PEM) and whether the UK should join.

The PEM makes it easier for UK firms to use inputs from the PEM countries and still get duty free access to the EU, and all the other PEM countries. Having left the EU, the UK is not part of the PEM. The UK Government has launched a consultation on whether or not the UK should accede. Would joining make trade easier for all our manufacturing businesses, or are there any downsides? Would it really make that much difference? And will other nations support the UK’s application if it does decide to apply to join PEM. It turns out the answers are not so straightforward.

Listen to the podcast for straight talking (as opposed to straightforward) explanation with Michael Gasiorek (CITP), Anna Jerzewska (DSV / EuroCommerce), Alessandro Marongiu (SMMT) and our host Chris Horseman (Borderlex).

What does the British public think about trade? In a democracy, what people think or feel about any area of policy really matters. Trade policy is an external wing of economic policy, and everyone cares about whether the government's actions are making them richer or poorer, but we also care about how trade is interlinked with climate change, the environment, food standards, or animal welfare.

In this episode, our speakers provide insights and analysis on what the public thinks about trade, how we know what the public thinks and whether their views are listened to. With Alan Winters (CITP), George Holt (Trade Justice Movement), Liam Campling (Queen Mary University London) and our host Chris Horseman (Borderlex).

In this special extended episode, recorded in front of a live audience at the World Trade Organization Public Forum, we consider the present state of the multilateral trading system and the role of the WTO.

The majority of international trade, around 72%, is being conducting on WTO terms. But pretty much every nation has had to face the consequences of a unilateral withdrawal from Most Favoured Nation principals by the world’s biggest economy: the US. This challenge from Washington is only the latest in a string of issues to confront the WTO, which has only ratified two multilateral agreements in 30 years, and hasn’t had a functioning Appellate Body to underpin the enforcement of multilateral trade rules for the last six years.

How should WTO members respond? Should the rules be upheld, or do they need changing? To discuss these questions and those from our live audience are H.E Guilherme de Aguiar Patriota (WTO), Kelly Ann Shaw (AKIN), Mona Paulsen (London School of Economics) and our host Chris Horseman (Borderlex).

This podcast discusses conformity assessment which is important to ensure manufacturers of industrial goods comply with international standards, and that compliance is verified. The issue of mutual recognition of conformity assessment comes into play for exports. If country A recognizes that country B's conformity assessment regime is as good as its own, then exporters in country B should only have to pay once for their products to be evaluated before they can export to the other country, thus saving them money.

The UK currently has mutual recognition agreements, with a number of countries, but not with the UK's biggest export market - the EU - even though the UK was a full participant in the EU conformity Assessment Regime up until Brexit. What are the prospects for a UK-EU agreement on conformity assessment? What are the barriers to this and how much does this impact EU-UK trade? Sharing their perspectives are Richard Collin (UKAS), Peter Holmes (UKTPO, University of Sussex), Jacques Pelkmans (CEPS), Fergus McReynolds (Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade) and our host Chris Horseman (Borderlex).

July 20, 2025, is six months since Trump’s inauguration for a second term in the White House. Since then, all previous norms of trade engagement have gone out of the window with the imposition (or threat) of tariffs on goods at rather arbitrary levels and out of line with WTO rules. Almost every supplier country now has its own personalised tariff rate – and some of the world’s least developed countries face the highest tariffs.

In this episode, Meredith Crowley (CITP/University of Cambridge), Stephanie Rickard (London School of Economics), Chad Bown (Peterson Institute for International Economics) and our host Chris Horseman (Borderlex) discuss what Trump might be trying to achieve with these measures. They also analyse the impact on America’s trading partners – and the global trading system – and how both may react to these challenges from Washington.

In May, Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen launched a reset of the EU-UK relationship which included an agreement to begin negotiations on a deal on agri-food standards - an ‘SPS agreement’.

The talks offer the prospect of a big reduction in the bureaucratic restrictions that have festooned cross-Channel agri-food trade since Brexit, but there are still a lot of questions about exactly how. In this podcast, Emily Lydgate (CITP, University of Sussex), Alex Carson-Taylor (international trade specialist), Sue Davies (Which?) and our host Chris Horseman (Borderlex) discuss the potential limitations inherent in the approach which London and Brussels have embarked on, the pitfalls that the negotiators might need to avoid, what it all means for Northern Ireland trade and the prospects for agri-food deals with other countries.

Last month, Britain thus became the first trade partner to do a deal with the new Trump administration. The deal was limited in its scope - but nevertheless highly significant, given that Trump has hitherto been keener on imposing tariffs than removing them. Britain won some exemptions from new US tariffs on cars and steel, while the US will be granted new access to the UK’s agricultural markets. And there will be more to come in other sectors.

Is this the start of a whole new economic relationship between the UK and the US. To discuss the pros and cons of the deal and what this means for other countries are Emily Lydgate (CITP/UKTPO, University of Sussex), Chris Southworth (ICC United Kingdom), Dmitry Grozoubinski (ExplainTrade), and hosted by Chris Horseman (Borderlex).