Trend Global supply chains strained and trade relations fragmenting

Summary

The UK depends on a complex global network of companies and people to produce and deliver goods and services, including critical items needed for the economy and essential public services such as health. Globalisation has tied economies closely together, giving the UK access to cheaper goods and services. The report nevertheless regards global supply chains as complex, opaque and fragile systems. New technologies, shifting trade relationships, rising protectionism and market-distorting practices are putting them under heavy strain, while geopolitical tension is fragmenting trade relations. Climate change is disrupting trade routes through more severe weather, and the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's cut to energy supplies showed how widely supply shocks can spread.