Leaving the EU: Customs Arrangements

Debate between David Simpson and Stephen Hammond

Tuesday 10th July 2018 Westminster Hall

[Stephen Hammond]

Were that so, I would sit down now, but there is no indication from any of the negotiators to whom I have spoken that that is the case. I will not go into the lurid details of how exactly they have described the prospective arrangement, because this debate has far too genteel an audience. However, I say to the hon. Gentleman that there will clearly be areas of mutual advantage, but it is very clear that those terms of trade in the short term—they may change in the future—are likely to be less advantageous.

[David Simpson (Upper Bann) (DUP)]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

--- Later in debate ---

[Stephen Hammond]

In one moment. I just want to make this point, because it is pertinent to what the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell) was saying. Free trade with the Commonwealth is a goal—an announced goal—for a number of the Brexiteers, but the key question again is this: on what terms will those deals be done?

The economic modelling done for the Whitehall papers shows that a free trade agreement with America would provide a UK GDP benefit of about 0.2%. That is because the average weighted tariff with America is only 2%. So if we get rid of all the tariffs with America, it would add 0.2% to our economy. If we reach agreements with China, India, Australia and New Zealand, of course they would add benefit to the economy—somewhere between 0.1% and 0.4%. I just ask Members to bear that in mind, given the scale and the benefit of the trade that we do with the European Union.

[David Simpson]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. Does he not agree that, in relation to trying to get a deal and to how we conduct the negotiations, the perception out there among the general public is that Europe keeps changing the goalposts and therefore we cannot get to a definitive position?

[Stephen Hammond]

The hon. Gentleman is clearly a learned man and I take his view that the great Shakespearean themes are perception and reality, and reality becomes perception and the other way round. But that is not true of course, and it is for those of us who are in this place to stand up and base our decisions on evidence, and to speak the truth. So it is absolutely clear to me that, as we need to protect jobs and businesses, and if we are ready to protect them as they are now, we do not need to sacrifice them for potential gains, if those gains look small and potentially unrealisable.

UK-India Trade

Debate between David Simpson and Stephen Hammond

Wednesday 25th January 2012 Westminster Hall

[Stephen Hammond]

My hon. Friend is known for his clear-sighted view of the future. He pre-empts remarks that I will make in the very near future. I share his sentiments. As he rightly says, we look forward to welcoming Dr Singh to the UK. I hope that his visit will be seen as a further expression of our shared values and common interests, but much more importantly, with regard to economics and trade, I hope that it will be regarded as a reiteration of the target of at least doubling bilateral trade in the next 10 years. I hope that my right hon. Friend the Minister will be able to say something about the plans in the business arena that he expects to see from Her Majesty’s Government in June.

[David Simpson (Upper Bann) (DUP)]

The Foreign Secretary made an interesting statement in December last year, saying that Asian consumer spending will reach a high of approximately £42 trillion by 2030. I am sure that the hon. Member for Wimbledon (Stephen Hammond) agrees that the Indian and Asian market is a vast one for British companies. However, the onus is on the British Government to make it easier for companies to export into Asian countries, by helping to remove a lot of the bureaucracy and paperwork that is tied up in relation to that.