[authors: Sara Ellis and Angela Kindness, Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP Team]
Welcome to Commercially Connected shorts, our weekly bitesize newsletter summarising the latest updates in UK commercial law.
This week we look at:
On 8 May 2025 the UK Prime Minister announced a “landmark economic deal” between the UK and the US. In a speech at Jaguar Land Rover and associated press release, it was confirmed that the deal will include:
- zero tariffs on exports of British steel and aluminium to the US
- tariffs on cars exported from the UK to the US to be cut from 27.5% to 10% for 100,000 cars per year, with a suggestion that the number of cars may be increased in the future
- zero tariffs on ethanol (used in manufacturing) imported into the UK from the US
- “vital assurances” for the life sciences sector
- “unprecedented market access” for British farmers with “no weakening of UK food standards on imports”, including reciprocal market access for beef with a UK quota of 13,000 metric tonnes of tariff free exports to the US
- a promise of more to come, including in relation to service and tech sectors
This deal is of key importance to UK businesses exporting to and/or importing from the US, given the impact that tariffs have on costs and profitability. We await further information on the details of this deal.
On 6 May 2025 it was announced that a trade deal between the UK and India has been agreed. The text of the agreement has not yet been drafted, but key provisions will include:
- Indian tariffs reduced on a wide range of products, including whisky, aerospace, cosmetics, medical devices and electrical circuits and conductors – with reductions stated to cover 90% of tariff lines, with 85% of these to become tariff free within 10 years
- automotive tariffs on exports from the UK to India will reduce from over 100% to 10% under a quota
- tariffs on exports from India to the UK of clothes, footwear and food products to be “liberalised”
- Indian customs procedures to be improved to make it easier to supply to the Indian market and to reduce barriers to digital trade
- UK access to the Indian government procurement market
- cooperation in relation to the financial services sector
- enhanced research and development cooperation
- enhanced copyright protection for the creative sectors
- obligations on both countries to prevent and deal with bribery and corruption, to uphold labour protection for workers and to facilitate competition and consumer protection
- mutual rules to facilitate short term business travel
The text of this agreement is yet to be drawn up, but once in force it will open up Indian markets to UK businesses, with the Government stating that in the long term the deal is expected to increase bilateral trade by £25.5 billion, UK GDP by £4.8 billion and wages by £2.2 billion each year.
We have launched our Global Supply Chain Guide. This comprehensive resource provides valuable analysis and practical tools to help you navigate the intricacies of global supply chains, sanctions, import and export controls and trade regulations.
It offers comprehensive and in-depth insights into the latest global trends, geopolitical factors, policy changes and regulatory updates impacting businesses, as well as best practices that help shape the industry. This guide is an essential asset for maintaining a competitive edge and ensuring resilience in the industry.
On 7 May 2025 the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) launched a voluntary Software Security Code of Practice (Code). This follows the March 2025 Government response to its call for views on the draft Code.
The Code is intended to set minimum – or baseline – standards for cyber security in software development and supply to help protect against software supply chain cyber-attacks and incidents. The NCSC says “The Code provides a framework to help organisations measure their progress, identify improvements, and provide tangible evidence of their commitment to security”.
The Code has been developed to reflect international best practice. It covers:
- secure design and development, including through appropriate risk assessment and testing
- build environment security to protect software quality and integrity, including the prevention of unauthorised access, and use of appropriate change control
- secure deployment and maintenance, including processes for vulnerability detection and management, and provision of security updates
- communication with customers to enable effective risk and incident management, including provision of information about support and maintenance
In addition to the Code, DSIT and the NCSC have published:
- implementation guidance which goes into more detail about the practical steps software vendors can take to comply with the principles in the Code;
- a self-assessment form that software vendors can complete to evidence compliance with the Code; and
- details of an NCSC assurance process that can be used to formally assess the resilience of connected products with software elements.
A certification scheme is also currently under development by the UK Government.
All businesses should familiarise themselves with the principles of the Code; software developers and suppliers to ensure that they are complying with the Code’s principles, and buyers to ensure that they understand what “good” looks like when it comes to software security.
We have reported previously on the December 2024 consultation on copyright and AI. The consultation sought views on proposals to address the interaction between copyright law and the training of AI systems in a way that promotes certainty and that supports both the UK creative industries and the UK AI sector.
The proposal favoured by the Government is to make an exception to copyright law for text and data mining, i.e. use of copyright works for this purpose would be permitted by default. This would be subject to a right for the copyright holder to “reserve their rights” in order to prevent use of their copyright works for this purpose, or to make such use subject to a paid-for license. However, this proposal has come under severe criticism, largely because a technical solution to implement it does not currently exist. Criticism has also been raised in relation to the lack of an economic impact analysis of each of the suggested options.
On 7 May 2025, during its third reading in the House of Commons, new clauses were added to the Data (Use and Access) Bill in an attempt to address these issues. These clauses, if passed, would require the Secretary of State, within 12 months of the Bill coming into force, to prepare, publish and lay before Parliament the following documents in respect of the policy options put forward in the copyright and AI consultation paper, as well as any other alternative options:
- an assessment of the economic impact of each policy option, on both copyright holders and those developing or using AI systems
- a report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems, considering the likely effect of the policy options on both copyright holders and those developing or using AI systems. The report would be required to cover:
- technical measures and standards that may be used to control use of and access to copyright works for the purpose of developing AI systems
- the effect of copyright on access to and use of data by AI systems developers
- the disclosure, by AI systems developers, of information about their use of copyright works and how they access them
- licence grants to AI systems developers to cover acts that are restricted by copyright
On 12 May 2025 the House of Lords considered and generally agreed with these amendments. A further amendment was also passed, to require the Secretary of State to make regulations requiring AI developers and providers to publish information for copyright owners on the text and data used in the “pre-training, training, fine-tuning and retrieval-augmented generation in the AI model, or any other data input to the AI model”, as well as information about bots used in developing the AI model. This would mean that AI developers would have to be completely transparent in their use of copyright materials.
The Bill will now return to the House of Commons. We will be monitoring developments as it progresses through Parliament. All stakeholders will be hoping for a workable solution to this difficult issue.
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