David Henig
Email: david.henig@ecipe.org
Mobile: +44 79 50 099 059
Areas of Expertise: North America
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
Donald Trump tariffs poised to hammer Scotland’s small businesses, expert warns
(Behind Paywall) David Henig says to The National US tariffs will hit Scottish whisky and small businesses hardest, with smaller producers least able to cope, causing significant localised economic impact.
Media Mention
Economic ‘coercion’ could be enough to push Britain back into recession
David Henig warns via The Sunday Telegraph that unpredictable US tariffs create major uncertainty for UK exporters, making future trade planning difficult and causing significant disruption to business confidence.
Media Mention
UK parties unite to condemn Trump’s tariffs threat over Greenland
David Henig highlights for the Financial Times the uncertainty facing UK exporters to the US, noting that unpredictable tariffs pose significant challenges and risks for future trade plans.
Media Mention
David Henig believes US trade commitments are now unreliable, with new tariffs creating uncertainty and chaos, negatively affecting importers and exporters hoping for stability.
David Henig believes US trade commitments are now unreliable, with new tariffs creating uncertainty and chaos, negatively affecting importers and exporters hoping for stability via The Daily Mail.
Article
Perspectives – Trump threats: Europe should focus on projecting certainty and reliability
David Henig writes his column for Borderlex on how Trump’s tariffs on troop-deploying countries to Greenland sparked a major US-Europe crisis.
Article
The Mercosur agreement exposes dangerously divided EU
David Henig looks at the recent EU-Mercosur trade agreement via UK in a Changing Europe.
Article
The Mercosur agreement exposes dangerously divided EU
David Henig looks at the recent EU-Mercosur trade agreement in a blog for UK in a Changing Europe.
Article
Perspectives: UK trade policy sets sights on Brussels
David Henig writes his Perspectives column for Borderlex on post-Brexit UK trade policy, which has underperformed, failing to deliver growth or viable alternatives to EU ties, prompting renewed interest in closer Brussels relations.
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
Greenland, Trump and trade coercion
David Henig joins the Trade Bites podcast to discuss the use of trade policy instruments in a coercive manner, the issues hanging over EU-US and UK-US trade relations, and where this positions the UK and the international rules-based trading system
Speech or Presentation
Republican Strategist & Political Analyst Clash Over Trump’s Greenland Plan
David Henig speaks with Al Arabiya English about US President Donald Trump doubling down on his push to acquire Greenland.
Speech or Presentation
Trump’s Tariffs Risk Fracturing Europe-US Trade Ties | David Henig
David Henig talks with Times Radio on how Donald Trump’s tariff threats and talk of acquiring Greenland have created deep uncertainty for European economies and weakened transatlantic trade ties while potentially pushing Europe closer to China.
Speech or Presentation
28/08/25 ‘Disappointment’ from food industry as minister says EU export checks to last until 2027, bee insemination
David Henig emphasises industry disappointment via BBC 4's Farming Today, noting that post-Brexit trade barriers for agri-food exports to the EU won’t ease until at least 2027.