Hewitt fires broadside against European and American trade tariffs

Patricia Hewitt is to launch a major assault on European and US trade barriers on Tuesday in an attempt to position Britain as the one of the world's freest trading nations.

The message will be contained in a White Paper, which the Trade and Industry Secretary will project as a radical change of direction in the country's import and export policies.

The paper, Making Globalisation a Force for Good, will argue that subsidies and tariffs are bad for British business, the global economy and for developing nations. It is understood that the paper, which will not lead to any new legislation, has been developed with the co-operation of organisations such as Oxfam.

Sources said the announcement had been timed to coincide with changes taking place in the structure of the European Union, such as agreement on the first constitution and the start of the Dutch presidency.

In particular, the paper calls for further reforms to Europe's Common Agricultural Policy, which Ms Hewitt will argue is adversely affecting farmers in developing countries.

Controversially, Ms Hewitt will also back moves by British companies to outsource many of their operations to emerging economies such as India, where labour costs are cheaper. Ms Hewitt will argue that outsourcing offers British firms the opportunity to become more efficient and that the inward investment will help developing countries. The move is expected to anger Britain's trade unions, which have waged a campaign against outsourcing.