Recommendation 20

It is vital that the UK approaches the EPD not merely as a trade arrangement, but as a component of an economic and foreign policy strategy focused on ensuring Western leadership in the face of global competition, particularly from China. This strategy should be shaped by three frameworks: a. the priorities for growing the eight strategic sectors identified in the Industrial Strategy and Trade strategy; b. the Defence Industrial Strategy, which as we have recommended must contain a clear definition of the sovereign capabilities the UK seeks to on-shore, the capabilities we are content to trade for; and c. a clear-eyed assessment of risks to (i) critical supply chains, (ii) critical minerals, (iii) investment and (iv) export security as part of a wider economic security strategy. (Recommendation, Paragraph 106)