An international group of participants gathered virtually on September 30th to hear the UK’s Consul-General in New York and Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for North America Antony Phillipson present the UK view of current negotiations toward a Free Trade Agreement.. Most recently, the fourth round of negotiations concluded on September 18th, and just prior to this round, the two countries exchanged their first tariff offers. In his presentation, Mr. Phillipson highlighted aspects of the negotiations that will affect Delaware industries. This webinar, sponsored by World Trade Center Delaware, gave attendees a unique view of the work that will affect one of Delaware’s and the United States’ most important trading relationships.

Delaware’s exports of products to Great Britain grew 34% between 2018 to 2019, reaching $542 million, 12.3% of all of Delaware’s product exports. The largest category by far is pharmaceuticals and medicines. Delaware imported $596 million of commodities and other products from the U.K. Close behind are Delaware’s services exports to the UK, $ primarily, financial services. British subsidiaries employ over 8,100 people in Delaware.

Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for North America, Antony Phillipson, said: “The UK and Delaware have a strong economic relationship that in recent years has supported hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of trade and made the UK one of the top export markets for Delaware. I look forward to seeing both Brits and Delawareans reap the benefits of a comprehensive, ambitious and forward-looking free trade agreement as both of our economies bounce back from COVID-19.”

This seminar was part of WTC Delaware’s program of workshops and training designed to give companies, particularly small and medium exporters, access to information that will help them to expand their business.

Others participating in the webinar were:
Amanda Deatherage Kalyan, Senior Trade Policy Advisor, British Embassy, Washington
Carla Sydney Stone, President of World Trade Center Delaware.