Oral Answers to Questions

John Lamont Excerpts
Thursday 25th February 2021

(3 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Greg Hands Portrait Greg Hands
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I thank the Chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee for that question. I know he takes a very keen interest and we also await with equal interest the publication of the report next week. It would not be proper to prejudge what may or may not be in the report, but it is clear that we are doing everything possible to support our food and drink exports. Returning to the question of Australia, we actually have a food and drink surplus with Australia. We are looking to get more market access and to promote more agricultural exports to Australia, which I know will come with great welcome from him and the EFRA Committee.

John Lamont Portrait John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)
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What progress she has made on removing tariffs on Scottish goods exported to the US.

David Linden Portrait David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)
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What steps she is taking to seek a reduction on the US tariffs applied on the export of Scotch whisky from the UK to the US.

Elizabeth Truss Portrait The Secretary of State for International Trade (Elizabeth Truss)
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We have been working hard to de-escalate this conflict and get punitive tariffs removed on both sides of the Atlantic. This is the way forward, not escalating the tariff battle.

John Lamont Portrait John Lamont
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US barriers to trade have been broken down in the past to the benefit of Scottish jobs, and this includes the great work of the UK Government to get Scotch beef back in American supermarkets for the first time in two decades. Does the Secretary of State envisage similar success in removing US tariffs to help cashmere mills in the Scottish borders and Scotch whisky distillers to export to American customers?

Oral Answers to Questions

John Lamont Excerpts
Thursday 14th January 2021

(3 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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David Mundell Portrait David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale) (Con)
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What steps she is taking to reduce tariffs on the export of Scotch whisky to the US.

John Lamont Portrait John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)
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What progress she has made on the removal of US tariffs on Scottish goods.

Elizabeth Truss Portrait The Secretary of State for International Trade (Elizabeth Truss)
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My right hon. Friend has been a huge champion for Scotch whisky. We have been working hard to de-escalate this conflict and get punitive tariffs removed on both sides of the Atlantic. That is the way forward, not escalating this tariff dispute.

Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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I completely agree with my right hon. Friend about the urgency of ending this tariff dispute. I have been clear with the United States and the European Union that we want to de-escalate it and reach a negotiated settlement. This dispute has already been going on for 16 years and has caused much damage. I am seeking an early meeting with the new US trade representative, Katherine Tai, and this will be one of the items on my agenda. I am also working closely with the new Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on this issue.

John Lamont Portrait John Lamont
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I know that everybody in Government is working hard on this, but I want to reiterate the huge financial strain that the tariffs are having on the textile and cashmere industry in my constituency in the Scottish borders, which I fear will cost many local jobs. Will the Government consider offering financial compensation to the firms affected to protect local jobs and this industry?

Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. We are looking at supporting industry, including through the BEIS fund that will invest £10 million to help distilleries go green, and no doubt the Treasury is looking at other affected industries as well. If we had accepted the advice from Labour to put additional tariffs on US products such as sweet potatoes and nuts, we would likely be hit by more tariffs as Germany and France were, as announced on 30 December.

Global Britain

John Lamont Excerpts
Monday 11th January 2021

(3 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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John Lamont Portrait John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)
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I would like to focus my brief remarks on the economic opportunities that await a global trading Britain in the years ahead. Once the world has overcome the enormous challenge of covid-19, which we surely will, I believe that the 2020s can be a decade of expansion that will improve the lives of all our constituents. That is the defining purpose of any economic policy: to improve the lives of the people we represent, to increase the number of good jobs in every community and to give economic security to families. Rightly, the UK Government have put the fire power of the world’s fifth largest economy at the service of individuals and businesses affected by covid, and that in turn has hit our public finances. The only way to bounce back from covid, to save jobs and to fix our public finances is to trade our way to an export-led recovery. That must be our objective.

We all have examples of great local firms that can take on the world and help to enhance global Britain. In my own Scottish Borders constituency, we have a proud heritage of textile manufacture, and the products produced by Borders textile mills such as Hawico in Hawick and Lochcarron in Selkirk are, without exaggeration, the best of their kind in the world. These global success stories are testament to a skilled local workforce expanding the global markets for those firms that have a direct impact in the small rural border towns that I represent, and creating more skilled jobs, more opportunities for young people and more reasons to stay and build a life in the area.

Businesses in the Borders are ready to take on the world, and there are three things I would ask the Government to do to help them. The first is to make the most of the greater freedom and flexibility that an independent trade policy gives us. Instead of the one-size-fits-all trade deals designed for 28 highly diverse nations with very different climates and landscapes, we can now to tailor our trade relationships more closely to our needs. It is extraordinary that the SNP opposed the recent EU trade deal, effectively voting for a no-deal Brexit that would have created uncertainty and disruption for Scottish businesses.

My second request is that we do more to encourage businesses that have not yet exported their goods to seize the opportunity to expand their market. My third request to my colleagues in Government is to remember that their responsibilities are for the whole of the United Kingdom. I know that Ministers are well seized of that point. Scottish businesses are served best when their two Governments, UK and Scottish, are working together.

As we emerge from the shadow of covid, there will be no time to lose in the race to rebuild our economy and to make a success of the 2020s. There is a world of opportunity out there. It is time to put past divisions aside and all pull together as one United Kingdom to make a success of global Britain for the benefit of all our constituents.

Oral Answers to Questions

John Lamont Excerpts
Thursday 8th October 2020

(3 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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In each individual trade agreement we consider key issues such as animal welfare. We are consulting closely with the farming industry, including the pig industry, which sees all the offers we put forward in individual deals. Each deal will be scrutinised by the International Trade Committee, and the implications for animal welfare will be independently verified. Parliament will have an opportunity to debate those issues. We take this matter seriously, and as the hon. Lady said, those issues come to light in each individual trade deal.

John Lamont Portrait John  Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)
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Despite the best efforts of Scottish National party Members, Scottish businesses want to trade around the world. What efforts are the Government making to ensure that Scottish businesses are able to trade around the world in the way they wish?

Graham Stuart Portrait Graham Stuart
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My hon. Friend is right, and last week I announced a new trade hub in Edinburgh, which will help businesses in Scotland to grow internationally and recover from the impact of coronavirus. The hub will promote opportunities for Scottish companies, and FTAs will provide access to our global network, which is provided in 115-plus markets. There is the support of UK Export Finance—[Interruption.] It is hard to hear oneself think with the chuntering from the Opposition Front Bench. Would it not be great if we saw the same interest in trade, and promoting trade, not least in Scotland, rather than chuntering and sideline messages?

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (Accession)

John Lamont Excerpts
Wednesday 17th June 2020

(3 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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That is a bit of a cheek coming from a party that wants to separate from our extremely successful Union here in the UK. We want a good trade deal with the EU, just as we want a good trade deal with CPTPP.

John Lamont Portrait John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)
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Unlike SNP Members, I very much welcome the opportunities of international trade not just for Scotland, but for the entirety of the United Kingdom. I know that the Government recognise the importance of Japan to Scotland and to UK farmers, particularly to those farmers who export malting barley and grain. Does the Secretary of State agree that a new trade agreement with Japan not only helps Scotland’s farmers to exploit those opportunities, but potentially gives us access to that part of the world?

Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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We are the second largest malting barley exporter to Japan after Canada and we have fine products both in Scotland and in my own region of East Anglia. Getting access to that wider CPTPP agreement, as well as reducing the tariffs in Japan, will give more opportunities to those fantastic producers.

UK-US Trade Deal

John Lamont Excerpts
Monday 2nd March 2020

(4 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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We want to achieve a world-leading data and digital agreement, underwriting data flows but also dealing with issues like blockchain and artificial intelligence, thereby making sure that we and the US are leading the world and able to share these economic opportunities.

John Lamont Portrait John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)
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I very much welcome this statement, but I know that the Secretary of State is aware of the very negative impact that US tariffs are having, particularly in my constituency, on textiles and cashmere. I am pleased to hear what she is doing to address that, but can she reassure me that there will be some sort of restriction in the trade deal on the US imposing these arbitrary tariffs in future on whisky and other sectors within the Scottish economy?

Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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As has been pointed out, Scotch whisky has been hit by retaliatory tariffs between the US and the EU. Of course we want to see that settled. We also want to see resolution on the Airbus-Boeing dispute. In future, I would be seeking to avoid such tit-for-tat tariffs, making sure that we have agreement on both sides.