Oral Answers to Questions

Aaron Bell Excerpts

Thursday 5th March 2020 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Con)]

1. What recent assessment she has made of the potential economic benefits to manufacturing industries of a free trade agreement with the US.

[The Secretary of State for International Trade (Elizabeth Truss)]

A free trade agreement with the US could deliver a £15 billion increase in bilateral trade, increase manufacturing output and benefit all parts of the UK economy, particularly the midlands, Scotland and the north-east.

[Aaron Bell]

I thank the Secretary of State for that answer, and for the scale of the Government’s ambitions for the trade deal. In Newcastle-under-Lyme we have a number of firms that have US subsidiaries or sister companies, or that themselves have US parent companies. Can she confirm that a comprehensive UK-US trade deal would benefit such firms by cutting red tape and increasing the trading ties between our two countries?

[Elizabeth Truss]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right; every morning more than 1 million people in Britain get up and go to work for American firms, and more than 1 million people in the US go to work for British firms. We want a closer economic relationship so that we can share ideas, products and goods, to the benefit of both nations.