David Henig
Email: david.henig@ecipe.org
Mobile: +44 79 50 099 059
Areas of Expertise: European Union EU Single Market EU Trade Agreements North-America Services WTO and Globalisation
David Henig is Director of the UK Trade Policy Project. A leading authority on the development of UK Trade Policy post Brexit, he places this in the context of developments in EU and global trade policy on which he also researches and writes.
David joined ECIPE in 2018 having worked on trade and investment issues for the UK Government for a number of years, in particular engaging extensively on US-EU talks around the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, on global issues around the US and China, and latterly helping to establish a UK trade policy capability after the 2016 Brexit referendum. He also writes a regular column for the online trade policy professionals news service Borderlex, advises a Parliamentary committee and the UK Trade and Business Commission, and appears regularly in media and at events to discuss latest developments. During the most intense phases of Brexit, he established with a number of other UK specialists a network of expertise under the UK Trade Forum banner.
Prior to working in Government, David worked in consulting and business development, having graduated from Oxford University. Collectively all of this experience is brought together in the project examining and evaluating the UK’s performance in preparing for and delivering effective trade policy.
ECIPE Policy Briefs
Negotiating Uncertainty in UK-EU Relations: Past, Present, and Future
Ten key points to negotiating the UK-EU relationship Europe has been weakened by difficult UK-EU relations at a time of international challenge. Eight years after the Brexit referendum a new UK government and European Commission provides a good opportunity to reset approaches and put obstructions aside. Too big for either side to ignore, this will always be an important, time-consuming, and slightly chaotic relationship – which thus needs a much firmer footing...
ECIPE Policy Briefs
Building a Mature UK Trade Policy
Global Britain has not delivered according to the hopes expressed by supporters of leaving the EU. Trade with the rest of the world has not grown to make up for leaving a bloc with seamless trade, early Free Trade Agreements with Australia and New Zealand are of minor economic significance, and it is hard to discern much of a strategy beyond completing a few more similar deals. Meanwhile the world of trade policy is transformed since 2016, negatively. The US...
New Globalisation
The New Globalisation: SMEs and International Trade – The Supply Chain is as Important as Direct Exports
The disproportionately small share of exports from Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is a cause of concern in modern trade policy. For developed countries, they typically account for over 95% of all businesses, two-thirds of the labour force, yet less than 50% of economic activity, and under a third of total export value. There is a compelling global narrative which argues we are missing a major economic opportunity. Conventional policy responses have been to...
UK Project
Time for Fresh Thinking on Northern Ireland and Brexit
The Good Friday / Belfast Agreement became, with considerable efforts over several years from so many involved, a broadly accepted if never fully stable political framework for Northern Ireland. A year after implementation, the prospect of the Northern Ireland Protocol delivering similar results is diminishing. Instead, there is a risk it entrenches divisions in which all sides believe others, not themselves, must be the ones to compromise most. Such divisions...
Media Mention
Elon Musk stands to get even richer off this UK government plan
David Henig's opinion on an article in POLITICO Europe on how Keir Starmer's government can help enrich Elon Musk.
Media Mention
Will UK finance minister’s visit to China create smoother trade ties?
David Henig discusses UK-China trade being static, and the hope of Rt Hon Rachel Reeves and the new UK government to restart and improve it via CGTN.
Media Mention
The damning statistics that reveal the true cost of Brexit, five years on
David Henig talks trade barriers, ongoing issues, and the greater difficulty for UK exporters compared to EU importers via The Independent.
Media Mention
Operation Brexit 2.0: UK and EU plot new foreign policy deal
David Henig comments on the EU-UK reset via The i Paper.
Article
Perspectives: Competitive supply as a priority for trade policy in the Trump era
David Henig writes his "Perspectives" column for Borderlex about the increased uncertainties in international economic relations after Donald Trump's election, and how the EU must rebuild its trade policy tools and economic security doctrine, focusing on openness and competitiveness.
Article
Perspectives: A new EU trade narrative for tougher times
David Henig analyses the EU-Mercosur deal and what it may mean for the EU's trade strategy going forward via Borderlex.
Article
Setting the Agenda: An Update on UK-EU Negotiations
David Henig writes an opinion piece on the EU-UK reset for UK Trade and Business Commission.
Article
Perspectives: Europe’s economic security approach needs urgent refocusing
David Henig writes his latest "Perspectives" columns for Borderlex on how the EU can do better than defining its economic security with stray defensive policies and how new Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič must develop a coherent doctrine grounded in openness.
Book or Paper
Northern Ireland’s Triple Treaty Trade Ambiguity
David Henig writes for the Centre for Cross Border Studies on the ambiguity around Northern Ireland's future trade status
Speech or Presentation
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee – Review of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement Inquiry
David Henig takes part during a session of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee at The Scottish Parliament in regard to the review of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Speech or Presentation
Why does Trump love tariffs?
David Henig speaks about Donald Trump's plans to introduce more tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada, China, Denmark, and possibly all goods entering the US during his second presidency via The Briefing Room on BBC Radio 4.
Speech or Presentation
What will Trump’s return mean for the UK economy in 2025?
David Henig speaks on BBC Radio 4 about Donald Trump's return to the White House and its potential economic impact on the UK.
Speech or Presentation
China wants Trump tariff chaos to divide the West | World in 10
David Henig talks with Times Radio on China potentially using Trump's tariffs to drive a wedge between the US and G7 countries to push Europe closer to China.