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Country Commercial Guides FY 2000: United Kingdom Report prepared by U.S. Embassy London, released July 1999 Note*

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Country Commercial Guide (CCG) presents a comprehensive look at the United Kingdom's commercial environment, using economic, political and market analysis. The CCGs were established by recommendation of the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC), a multi-agency task force, to consolidate various reporting documents prepared for the U.S. business community. Country Commercial Guides are prepared annually at U.S. Embassies through the combined efforts of several U.S. Government agencies.

Country Commercial Guides are available for U.S. exporters from the National Trade Data Bank CD-ROM or via the Internet at http://www.stat-usa.gov; http://1997-2001.state.gov/; and http://www.mac.doc.gov.

They can also be ordered in hard copy or on diskette from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) at 1-800-553-NTIS. Please contact STAT-USA at 1-8OO-STAT-USA for more information.

U.S. exporters seeking general export information should contact the U.S. Department of Commerce Trade Information Center by phone at 1-800-USA-TRADE or by fax at (202) 482-4433. In the U.K., the CCG may be downloaded from the Embassy's website: http://www.usembassy.org.U.K./usfcs.html.

The United Kingdom (U.K.) remains attractive to U.S. exporters and investors both in its own right and as a gateway to the larger European Union (EU) market. With a similar language, legal framework and business practices, and relatively low rates of taxation and inflation, the U.K. has very few industries that limit foreign ownership, and no restriction on the repatriation of capital and profit. Within the EU, the British Government defends the rights of any company registered in Britain, irrespective of the nationality of its ultimate parent.

The U.K. is receptive to U.S. goods and services, as a result of a shared cultural heritage and the traditional flow of trade and investment. With its $1.21 trillion GDP, the U.K. remains the United States' largest European market and fourth largest market worldwide, after Canada, Mexico and Japan. In 1998, the United States exported $39.07 billion of goods to the U.K. and imported British goods worth $34.79 billion.

The United States and the U.K. are the largest foreign investors in each other's country. Sixty of the U.K.'s five hundred largest companies are U.S.-owned, and historical cost investment by U.S. companies in the U.K. amounted to $138.8 billion by 1997. Comparable British investment in the United States amounted to $129.6 billion.