Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans her Department has to open trade negotiations with Taiwan.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK remains committed to strengthening its rich and wide-ranging trading relationship with Taiwan. Total trade in goods and services between the UK and Taiwan was £6.1 billion in 2020. The UK is working with Taiwan to deepen its relationship, including through the annual Trade Talks and associated dialogues, ministerial engagement, and through engagements by the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Taiwan.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that (a) farmers and (b) food producers in (a) East Riding of Yorkshire and (b) Haltemprice and Howden constituency can benefit from a free trade agreement with Australia.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
An ambitious free trade deal with Australia will benefit businesses and producers across the UK – this will include greater access for UK agri-food goods to the Australian market through the removal of tariffs.
A deal with Australia is also a gateway to joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a high-standards free trade agreement of 11 Pacific nations, which will mean lower tariffs for British exports to those markets. By 2030, two-thirds of the world’s middle class will be in Asia, which is creating unheralded new export opportunities for British farming. This is where the future opportunity lies for UK farmers.
Any deal the UK signs with Australia will include protections for the agriculture industry and will not undercut UK farmers or compromise the UK’s high standards.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of a free trade agreement with Australia on (a) the East Riding of Yorkshire and (b) Haltemprice and Howden constituency.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government’s economic analysis, published on 17 June 2020, seeks to identify the potential scale of the long-term additional benefit to the UK from having a deal with Australia.
Yorkshire and the Humber’s top goods export to Australia, general industrial machinery, equipment and machine parts, saw an increase from 2019 to 2020. Liberalisation of tariffs on these products (currently up to 5%) and reducing other non-tariff barriers to trade should further benefit this industry, and others.
Following the conclusion of negotiations, a full impact assessment will be published prior to implementation.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of foreign direct investment in the UK tech sector.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The latest release showed the UK’s tech sector attracted more venture capital investment than anywhere else in Europe, with £6.3bn ($7.9bn) in funding from investors in 2018. This is ahead of Germany, France and Israel. This is yet more evidence of the UK’s continued attractiveness to investors across the globe
The government continues to support the tech sector. Through the AI Sector Deal, launched last Spring, the government is actively supporting the development of talent, nationwide, to ensure this position is maintained and enhanced in the years to come. Investment in the AI business has exceeded £3.8 billion and continues to grow.