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
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...
New Globalisation
Prosperity and Resilience: Diverse Production and Comparative Advantage in Modern Economies
A common version of trade theory suggests that countries will specialise in a limited number of products. Using the example of David Ricardo from 1817, England specialises in cloth and Portugal in producing wine – and then they trade with each other to mutual benefit. However, this is a crude version of comparative advantage that routinely leads to political concerns about trade. Today the prime concern is that Europe and other developed countries have become...
Media Mention
EU tariff decision on Chinese EVs denounced
David Henig's opinions on the implementation of tariffs into Chinese EVs is used by the China...
Media Mention
Europe still wants to punish Britain for Brexit – and Starmer knows it
David Henig discusses Brexit fatigue on UK voters via The...
Media Mention
Ideas for the UK: election economics week two
The blog "A first 100 days for UK trade policy" by David Henig is featured in an article by the Economics...
Media Mention
Labour’s Brexit plan could leave it on the hook for millions
David Henig highlights for Politico that there are two forms of veterinary agreements — one that removes barriers and one that reduces...
Article
Perspectives: Trade liberals need to encourage alternatives to FTAs
David Henig writes for Borderlex on the need to look for alternatives to the ageing FTA...
Article
Perspectives: Five years that transformed EU trade policy
David Henig writes for Borderlex on the radical transformation in trade policy overseen by the European Commission since...
Article
Perspectives: The no-commitment mood in trade policy might pass
David Henig comments on the need for more cooperation to face today's global challenges in his "Perspectives" column for...
Article
Perspectives: How EU trade policy should respond to a second Trump presidency
David Henig writes for Borderlex about how the EU should continue to pursue dialogue and trade deals after the US Presidential...
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...
Speech or Presentation
The UK’s Export-led Growth
David Henig intervenes at the Business and Trade Committee of the House of Commons to discuss export-led growth for the United...
Speech or Presentation
Brexit 4 years old, should the UK hold a birthday party or a wake?
David Henig interview for CGTN Europe on Brexit 4 years...
Speech or Presentation
Economists on impact of no-deal Brexit
David Henig and Shanker Singham discuss the latter's proposals for Brexit on Channel 4...