The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) announced on 13 April 2025 a temporary suspension of the UK Global Tariff on 89 products until July 2027. The measure aims to reduce import costs for businesses by £17m annually across construction, food and manufacturing sectors. The suspension applies to products including construction materials, food ingredients and manufacturing components where goods do not qualify for existing preferential treatment under free trade agreements. The change forms part of the government's Plan for Change economic strategy.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and HM Treasury have announced that the government will provide £350 million through a new Critical Chemicals Resilience Fund and a further £120 million package for the ceramics sector, with Business Secretary, Peter Kyle, and Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, stating that the measures are intended to strengthen the UK’s industrial resilience, support skilled jobs and improve long-term competitiveness. The chemicals fund will support strategically important producers and sites supplying sectors including food, energy, water and healthcare, helping firms modernise infrastructure, reduce emissions and strengthen supply chains, while the government also committed to working with industry on reducing regulatory costs and addressing unfair foreign trade practices. The ceramics package will support investment in energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects, alongside operational support for eligible manufacturers across subsectors including refractory products, clay building materials, household ceramics and technical ceramics, with the government stating that the sector is important for construction, advanced manufacturing, defence and technology applications. Industry bodies including the Chemical Industries Association and Ceramics UK welcomed the measures, and HM Treasury said the overall package would not increase borrowing over the medium term.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has completed its four-week Request for Input consultation on potential UK responses to US tariffs, receiving over 200 stakeholder submissions. Sine its launch on 3 April 2025 the consultation, which ran until 1 May 2025, will inform possible future UK tariff measures. The DBT is now analysing responses while continuing parallel negotiations with the US on an economic prosperity deal aimed at removing existing and future tariffs. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds confirmed all response options remain under consideration.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has conducted the first round of negotiations on an enhanced Free Trade Agreement with Turkey in Ankara from 23 June to 2 July 2025. The talks aimed to expand the existing agreement, which currently reflects the EU-Turkey Customs Union, by broadening cooperation in key sectors. Negotiations were constructive, with both sides working to define their goals, particularly in trade in goods and services. The UK, as a major global exporter of services, seeks to increase its service exports to Turkey, which accounted for only 34% of total UK exports to Turkey in 2024. Discussions also addressed regulatory frameworks, sustainability, labour rights, and women’s economic empowerment. A second round of negotiations is scheduled for Autumn 2025.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has confirmed that the UK will sign the Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP) with Nigeria to increase trade and investment and expose new opportunities across several sectors, including financial and legal, for UK and Nigerian businesses. The ETIP is the first the UK has signed with an African country and is designed to grow the UK and Nigeria’s current booming trading relationship, which totalled £7bn from January- September 2023.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has confirmed the implementation of Neonatal Care Leave and Pay will be effective from 6 April 2025, subject to Parliamentary approval. This new entitlement, stemming from the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023, will allow eligible parents to take up to 12 weeks of additional leave when their baby is admitted to neonatal care within 28 days of birth and remains in hospital for at least 7 consecutive days. Neonatal leave will be a day one right for employees, with Statutory Neonatal Care Pay available to those meeting continuity of service and minimum earnings requirements. The measure forms part of the government's wider reform to employment law which is set to be implemented through the Employment Rights Bill.

The Department for Business & Trade (DBT) has confirmed legislative changes to the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, extending consumer protections and organiser liability in holiday arrangements. The reforms will absorb linked travel arrangement Type A bookings into the full package definition, meaning organisers become liable for the entire holiday arrangement including third-party services, while removing Type B arrangements entirely. The changes also establish a 14-day period for supplier refunds to organisers and clarify redress rights. Crucially for injury claims, the government rejected proposals to exempt domestic packages from the regulations, preserving the existing liability framework where package organisers remain responsible for all elements of a holiday. The legislation is expected to reach Parliament by June 2026 under retained EU law powers.

The Department for Business & Trade (DBT) has launched a consultation on the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme, which would exempt eligible manufacturing businesses from indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and Capacity Market schemes. The consultation seeks views on eligibility criteria using Standard Industrial Classification and Harmonised System codes, electricity intensity thresholds and pro-rating approaches. The scheme aims to reduce electricity costs by £35-40 per megawatt-hour and requires amendments to existing secondary legislation, with implementation planned for April 2027 subject to subsidy control compliance. The consultation ends on 19 January 2026.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is consulting on three statutory instruments which set out the turnover and control regulations under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act 2024. Specifically, the DBT is seeking views on the regulations which set out how the Competition and Markets Authority, civil courts or other enforcers will estimate or calculate turnover to assess if a business should have strategic market status or determine the statutory maximum for penalties that non-complaint businesses or individuals may be required to pay. The deadline for responses is 10 September 2024.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has launched a consultation on 30 June 2026 seeking views on the proposed approach of the Fair Work Agency (FWA) to holiday pay compliance and enforcement from 2027.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has launched a consultation seeking views on proposed changes to the statutory right to time off work for public duties under section 50 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The consultation follows an internal government review of the current list of public duties eligible for time off, including consideration of special constables. It seeks views on which public duties should qualify for statutory time off, proposed additions to and removals from the current list of eligible duties and how the entitlement operates in practice. Responses may be submitted online, by email or by post until 4 September 2026.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has launched a consultation, seeking views on the draft Competition Act 1998 (Technology Transfer Agreements Block Exemption) Order 2026. The consultation follows the Secretary of State for Business and Trade’s acceptance of a recommendation from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)’s to make an order under section 6 of the Competition Act 1998 to exempt certain technology transfer agreements from the CA 1998, Ch I prohibition on anti-competitive agreements. The Order will replace the assimilated Regulation (EU) No 316/2014 (Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER)), derived from EU law and set to expire on 30 April 2026. It will largely maintain the existing exemption regime while introducing limited changes, intended to ensure businesses are not prevented from entering into agreements the CMA considers benign or beneficial. The consultation closes on 9 February 2026.