Oral Answers to Questions

Cherilyn Mackrory Excerpts

Thursday 20th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

I hope that the right hon. Member will assist us in the negotiations by speaking to their counterparts and indeed all those across the US who want the tariffs removed. I reiterate that at every level of the UK Government we have raised the issue with the US, and we are therefore at the point where we are now starting negotiations, which will move at pace. I look forward to his assisting us to ensure a successful outcome.

[Cherilyn Mackrory (Truro and Falmouth) (Con)]

8. What progress her Department has made on maximising opportunities for international trade in 2022.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mr Ranil Jayawardena)]

The Department continues to work hard to boost prosperity in every corner of our country, helping businesses export, securing investment, negotiating free trade agreements, bulldozing trade barriers and championing free trade. Just last week, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade said, we launched negotiations with India, an economy of 1.4 billion people worth £2 trillion. Our consultation on an FTA with the Gulf Co-operation Council closed last week, and I look forward to launching those negotiations soon. We continue to break through market access barriers. In 2020-21 alone, we resolved more than 200 barriers across 74 countries.

[Cherilyn Mackrory]

I thank the Minister for his answer. Will my hon. Friend expand on how businesses in Truro and Falmouth, as well as in wider Cornwall, can take advantage of free trade deals that the Government hope to secure in 2022, so that my constituents can reap the rewards and benefits that they will bring?

[Mr Jayawardena]

My hon. Friend is a great champion of businesses in Truro and Falmouth. The south-west is already benefiting from the Department’s work and will continue to do so. A deal with India would benefit the more than 600 west country businesses that exported more than £20 million of goods to India in 2020, and I am sure many more will do so in the future. Food and drink producers—even those that use imported ingredients—now qualify for nil tariffs in a deal with Australia, which is good news for fans of Cornish pasties down under.

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[Cherilyn Mackrory (Truro and Falmouth) (Con)]

T5. The last couple of years have been extremely difficult for the shell fishermen in Cornwall, include those on the River Fal, which has one of the most historic and sustainable fisheries in the world. That said, fishing communities across the UK will benefit from the £75 million boost to the sector; can my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State assure me that the Department will work with the Cornish fishermen benefiting from this investment and help them further capitalise on it by ensuring that they are able to play their part in the Government’s “Race to a Trillion” strategy?

[Mike Freer]

My hon. Friend raises an important point, particularly for her constituency, and I can give the assurance that the Government will continue to work closely with Seafish and the Shellfish Association of Great Britain to encourage their members to look at new markets and drive awareness of UK seafood in international markets. We have a network of trade advisers in the UK and overseas who can support the sector to trade successfully, and I am happy to put any of her businesses in contact with them.