Asked by: Calum Miller (Liberal Democrat - Bicester and Woodstock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the UK Trade and Investment Factsheet published on 31 October 2025, if he will specify the importing organisation and the goods involved in the import of £36 million worth of Russian planes in 2025.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government’s sanctions regime has seen UK goods imports from Russia fall by 99.6% since the illegal invasion of Ukraine. Imports of Russian aircraft are banned. The Russian imports referenced in the UK Trade and Investment Factsheet are of aircraft parts, which are not sanctioned. The sanctions regime constrains Russian war revenues, whilst protecting critical supply chains and the stability of global markets. We are investigating manufacturers’ reliance on Russian aircraft parts.
The Government does not speculate on future import controls as to do so could reduce their impact. We continue to monitor the effectiveness of these measures.
HMG is prevented from disclosing information regarding importers under section 18 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005.
Statistics notes and sources:
Asked by: Calum Miller (Liberal Democrat - Bicester and Woodstock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the UK Trade and Investment Factsheet published on 31 October 2025, if his Department will seek legal advice on whether the import of £36 million worth of Russian planes in 2025 breaches the UK's sanctions regime.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government’s sanctions regime has seen UK goods imports from Russia fall by 99.6% since the illegal invasion of Ukraine. Imports of Russian aircraft are banned. The Russian imports referenced in the UK Trade and Investment Factsheet are of aircraft parts, which are not sanctioned. The sanctions regime constrains Russian war revenues, whilst protecting critical supply chains and the stability of global markets. We are investigating manufacturers’ reliance on Russian aircraft parts.
The Government does not speculate on future import controls as to do so could reduce their impact. We continue to monitor the effectiveness of these measures.
HMG is prevented from disclosing information regarding importers under section 18 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005.
Statistics notes and sources:
Asked by: Calum Miller (Liberal Democrat - Bicester and Woodstock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the UK Trade and Investment Factsheet published on 31 October 2025, what plans his Department has to halt the further import of Russian planes to the UK.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government’s sanctions regime has seen UK goods imports from Russia fall by 99.6% since the illegal invasion of Ukraine. Imports of Russian aircraft are banned. The Russian imports referenced in the UK Trade and Investment Factsheet are of aircraft parts, which are not sanctioned. The sanctions regime constrains Russian war revenues, whilst protecting critical supply chains and the stability of global markets. We are investigating manufacturers’ reliance on Russian aircraft parts.
The Government does not speculate on future import controls as to do so could reduce their impact. We continue to monitor the effectiveness of these measures.
HMG is prevented from disclosing information regarding importers under section 18 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005.
Statistics notes and sources:
Asked by: Calum Miller (Liberal Democrat - Bicester and Woodstock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the potential impacts of the US requiring duties to be collected on all imports on UK businesses.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The department has conducted quantitative analysis and engaged directly with businesses across impacted sectors to understand the impact of the US removal of their De Minimis threshold. We have published information for UK businesses and remain in contact with our US counterparts to ensure their guidance to our exporters is as clear as possible. Royal Mail’s new service has allowed SMEs to continue trading with the US.
The Secretary of State and departmental officials are in regular contact with US counterparts to discuss the impacts of tariffs on UK businesses and arrangements we can reach to alleviate them.
Asked by: Calum Miller (Liberal Democrat - Bicester and Woodstock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on exporters of the United States' suspension of duty-free de minimis treatment for low-value goods.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The department has conducted quantitative analysis and engaged directly with businesses across impacted sectors to understand the impact of the US removal of their De Minimis threshold. We have published information for UK businesses and remain in contact with our US counterparts to ensure their guidance to our exporters is as clear as possible. Royal Mail’s new service has allowed SMEs to continue trading with the US.
The Secretary of State and departmental officials are in regular contact with US counterparts to discuss the impacts of tariffs on UK businesses and arrangements we can reach to alleviate them.
Asked by: Calum Miller (Liberal Democrat - Bicester and Woodstock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his Department's press release entitled UK Government statement on denial of UK MP to enter Hong Kong, published on 14 April 2025, if his Department will publish the minutes from the meeting between the Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security and Hong Kong's Chief Secretary for Administration as they relate to the decision to deny Wera Hobhouse MP entry to Hong Kong.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
In line with the practice of successive administrations, detailed minutes of ministerial meetings - even those that are declared publicly - are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Calum Miller (Liberal Democrat - Bicester and Woodstock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his Department will publish the minutes from meetings between the Minister of Trade and the Chief of Defence Staff and their Chinese interlocutors on the week commencing 7 April 2025.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
In line with the practice of successive administrations, detailed minutes of ministerial meetings - even those that are declared publicly - are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Calum Miller (Liberal Democrat - Bicester and Woodstock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of US policies enacted between 20 January 2017 and 20 January 2021 on the UK renewable energy industry.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The UK government is committed to monitoring US policies and considering what action is best to promote and safeguard UK business interests.
Between January 2017 and January 2021, we engaged the US administration extensively on a range of US policies, including in the context of UK-US FTA negotiations. Beyond 2021, we have continued engaging with the US to improve access to the US market for UK exporters, including by securing the removal of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium products.
Asked by: Calum Miller (Liberal Democrat - Bicester and Woodstock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of US policies enacted between 20 January 2017 and 20 January 2021 on the UK steel industry.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The UK government is committed to monitoring US policies and considering what action is best to promote and safeguard UK business interests.
Between January 2017 and January 2021, we engaged the US administration extensively on a range of US policies, including in the context of UK-US FTA negotiations. Beyond 2021, we have continued engaging with the US to improve access to the US market for UK exporters, including by securing the removal of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium products.
Asked by: Calum Miller (Liberal Democrat - Bicester and Woodstock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of US policies enacted between 20 January 2017 and 20 January 2021 on the Scotch whisky industry.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The UK government is committed to monitoring US policies and considering what action is best to promote and safeguard UK business interests.
Between January 2017 and January 2021, we engaged the US administration extensively on a range of US policies, including in the context of UK-US FTA negotiations. Beyond 2021, we have continued engaging with the US to improve access to the US market for UK exporters, including by securing the removal of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium products.