Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to secure an exemption for UK steel exports from the US 232 tariffs.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government’s objective is to secure the swift removal of unjustified measures on exports of steel and aluminium. The Government has rolled over EU rebalancing tariffs in response to the ‘Section 232’ measures, and will launch a consultation to ensure these tariffs are shaped to UK interests and tailored to the UK economy. We want to de-escalate the conflict and come to a negotiated settlement so we can deepen our trading relationship with the US.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to strengthen the UK's trade relationship with Israel in medical research and development.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The United Kingdom and Israel have a strong and important trading relationship, and we are committed to strengthening it further.
That’s why, to promote international collaboration on Science and Innovation, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office jointly funded our Science and Innovation Network (SIN), based in over 40 countries around the world. The priorities for British engagement with Israel are set by Industry Strategy and the United Kingdom-Israel Science Council, a group of 30 leading scientist and policymakers from both countries, chaired by the British Ambassador in Israel.
Further, through the UK-Israel tech hub, the UK-Israel Dangoor Healthcare Initiative was established to create a pipeline of the best Israeli healthcare innovations for the United Kingdom’s healthcare sector. Information on its most recent projects can be found here.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions she has had with the Government of Somalia on a trade agreement with the UK.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Somalia will benefit from the United Kingdom’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP), which was announced on 10th November. The Least Developed Countries Framework will give duty-free quota-free access to all 47 countries classified by the UN as Least Developed Countries, which includes Somalia. Furthermore, the United Kingdom-funded Trade and Investment Advocacy Fund 2 Plus Programme (TAF2+) is in discussions with Somalia about providing advisory support towards their WTO accession.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussion she has had with the Government of Somaliland on a trade agreement with the UK.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Somalia will benefit from the United Kingdom’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP), which was announced on 10th November. The Least Developed Countries Framework will give duty-free quota-free access to all 47 countries classified by the UN as Least Developed Countries, which includes Somalia. Furthermore, the United Kingdom-funded Trade and Investment Advocacy Fund 2 Plus Programme (TAF2+) is in discussions with Somalia about providing advisory support towards their WTO accession.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the value is to the UK economy of trade with (a) Somalia and (b) Somaliland.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The value of UK Trade with Somalia in 2019 was £81 million. This comprised £48 million UK exports to Somalia and £33 million UK imports from Somalia.
UK trade with Somaliland is captured within the figures for Somalia and cannot be separately identified.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she has made in discussions with Israel on an agreement for further trade co-operation beyond the trade continuity deal.
Answered by Graham Stuart
I refer my Hon. Friend, the Member for Rother Valley, to the answer that my Rt. Honourable Friend, Minister Jayawardena, gave to the Honourable Member for Buckingham on 19 November 2020 to Question UIN 909006.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to strengthen the UK’s trade relationship with Israel.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
As my Rt Hon. Friend, the Foreign Secretary, stated during his recent visit to the region, the relationship between the United Kingdom and Israel is strong. We wish to strengthen it further.
We are working with Israeli officials to explore opportunities for expanding and deepening the United Kingdom-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement – and we will work with our Israeli counterparts to reinstate plans to host a United Kingdom-Israel Trade and Investment conference in London too.
We welcome Israel’s normalisation of relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. As a friend to all three countries, we welcome the opportunities for increased trade and investment that this will provide.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what support she is providing to her Israeli counterpart to help expand Israel’s commercial ties with the Gulf states.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
As my Rt Hon. Friend, the Foreign Secretary, stated during his recent visit to the region, the relationship between the United Kingdom and Israel is strong. We wish to strengthen it further.
We are working with Israeli officials to explore opportunities for expanding and deepening the United Kingdom-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement – and we will work with our Israeli counterparts to reinstate plans to host a United Kingdom-Israel Trade and Investment conference in London too.
We welcome Israel’s normalisation of relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. As a friend to all three countries, we welcome the opportunities for increased trade and investment that this will provide.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether critical mineral supply chains are being discussed in Project Defend.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
HM Government continually monitors and assesses the supply of critical minerals.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what opportunities she has identified for further trade co-operation with Israel beyond the trade continuity agreement.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The United Kingdom-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement provides an ambitious framework to continue to grow our future trading relationship, which totalled £5.1bn in 2019.
We will be working with our Israeli counterparts to reinstate plans to host a bilateral trade and investment summit in the future. Through this engagement, we will seek to secure the United Kingdom’s position as Israel’s number one trade and investment partner in Europe. This includes promoting science, innovation and technology partnerships between both countries, as well as exploring further opportunities for British business in the financial services, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors.