How the East Midlands could benefit from an Australia trade deal

The world-famous East Midlands shoemaking industry, the region’s manufacturers and high-quality food exporters could all be big winners from an Australia free trade deal.

Manufacturing and chemicals: machinery and chemicals exports from the East Midlands to Australia were worth £130m last year. Cutting tariffs of up to 5%, removing red tape and aligning regulations would make exporting easier and open up opportunities for growth.

Shoemaking: cutting the 5% footwear tariff could open up new opportunities for Northampton’s renowned shoemakers, such as Tricker’s, to export more high-end shoes and boots to Australia.

Food: cutting tariffs on food and drink could boost exports for the East Midlands’s food producers. Buxton’s Bradburys Cheese sells nearly $3m of British cheese in Australia every year but wants to boost that by up to 60% with the removal of tariffs on their goods.

Top Three Trade Facts

• Nearly 1,200 East Mids businesses exported goods to Australia last year.
• East Mids firms exported goods worth more than £200m to Australia in 2020.
• Machinery & transport equipment makes up nearly half of all goods exports from the East Mids to Australia, worth nearly £100m last year, up by nearly 8% on 2019.