Oral Answers to Questions

Lindsay Hoyle Excerpts

Thursday 20th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

3. What progress she has made on a free trade agreement with India.

[Mr Speaker]

We have a slight problem. Will the Secretary of State answer the question? I will then go to the Opposition spokesperson.

[The Secretary of State for International Trade (Anne-Marie Trevelyan)]

I visited India last week to launch negotiations with my counterpart, Minister Goyal, for an ambitious free trade deal. India is one of the world’s biggest and fastest-growing economies and is home to more than a billion consumers, with a growing middle class eager to buy the goods and services that our country excels in. Securing a world-class FTA with India will deliver benefits for people across all four nations of the UK.

--- Later in debate ---

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

Yes, I am confident that the safeguards we have brought in, which I am happy to set out again, will support the most sensitive parts of the UK farming community. They include a general bilateral safeguard mechanism that provides a safety net for all those products, staged liberalisation, tariff rate quotas and specific safeguards for beef and sheep meat, which will be there to support fantastic British produce. Again, I encourage everyone to sing loudly about how fantastic our British produce is. It is eaten from plates across the UK and around the world. We will continue to see that finest produce enjoyed by all.

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the Secretary of State for not mentioning the cricket.

[Sir Mark Hendrick (Preston) (Lab/Co-op)]

6. What recent discussions she has had with her US counterpart on the tariffs on UK steel exports to the US.