Multilateral Free Trade
Debate between Lord Leong and Lord Browne of Ladyton
Lord Leong (Lab)
My Lords, we on these Benches send our deepest condolences to Baroness Randerson’s friends and family.
The UK’s accession to the CPTPP takes a plurilateral Pacific deal and makes it a truly global one, bringing new opportunities for British businesses and supporting jobs across the country. The UK is the first country to accede to the CPTTP and the first European member of the CPTPP, demonstrating the Government’s commitment to multilateral trade. As far as the EU is concerned, the Prime Minister has stated many times that we are resetting our relationship with Europe. We want to ensure that our businesses have a much better working relationship with Europe. We will have to wait and see what happens from there.
Lord Browne of Ladyton (Lab)
My Lords, in the context of a dispute about subsidies between Airbus and Boeing, in 2019 the United States imposed a 25% tariff on single malt Scotch whisky, which was levied between October 2019 and March 2021. It cost the Scottish whisky industry £1 million of revenue a day. In total, £600 million in exports was lost to the United States. This was suspended in June 2021 for five years and is due to come in again in June 2026. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that the Scottish whisky industry does not once again suffer collateral damage in a trade war that is not of its making?