Tuesday 30th April 2019

(5 years, 6 months ago)

Ministerial Corrections
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EU Customs Union
The following is an extract from oral questions to the Secretary of State for International Trade on Thursday 25 April 2019.
Nick Smith Portrait Nick Smith
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Some 9,000 people work in the Welsh steel industry, so can I ask the Secretary of State to think again, and support a permanent customs union and commit to a common external tariff on steel imports to support steel jobs in south Wales?

Liam Fox Portrait Dr Fox
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No, I will not commit to that. I have set out the reasons why I believe the application of a common external tariff will be limiting on the UK’s ability to carry out an independent trade policy. What I would say is that we already have the Trade Remedies Authority up and running, and that is the best way to deal with any disputes over steel through WTO rules.

[Official Report, 25 April 2019, Vol. 658, c. 860.]

Letter of correction from the Secretary of State for International Trade:

An error has been identified in the response I gave to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Nick Smith).

The correct response should have been:

Liam Fox Portrait Dr Fox
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No, I will not commit to that. I have set out the reasons why I believe the application of a common external tariff will be limiting on the UK’s ability to carry out an independent trade policy. What I would say is that we have already established our trade remedies functionality, and that is the best way to deal with any disputes over steel through WTO rules.