Alexander Kasterine, from the International Trade Centre, which launched the study, said the threat was real.

BBC: Python skin trade worth a billion - and often illegal

The International Trade Centre would showcase manufactured goods from China, India, South Korea and other emerging economies to wholesalers, Peel said.

BBC: Peel plan trade exhibition centre on banks of Mersey

Both accept the idea that centre-left politics should embrace the principles of fiscal responsibility, free trade and international engagement.

ECONOMIST: Mr Blair goes to Washington

That person could truly compete for pre-eminence in trade, according to Sidney Weintraub, a veteran diplomat and scholar based at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (which Mr Zoellick used to head).

ECONOMIST: Trade policy: Whoduzzit? | The