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Written Question
Trade Agreements: Australia and New Zealand
Thursday 21st July 2022

Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the UK’s trade agreements with (a) Australia and (b) New Zealand on the economy.

Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

The Impact Assessment of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the UK and Australia and the Impact Assessment of the FTA between the UK and New Zealand are available on gov.uk.

The Australia and New Zealand FTAs are expected to increase bilateral trade by 53% and 59% respectively in the long run and boost the UK economy by £2.3 billion and £800 million when compared to projected levels of GDP in 2035. Take-home pay for UK workers could increase by £900 million and £200 million respectively, when compared to 2019 levels.

We have committed to publishing a biennial FTA monitoring report, and a comprehensive ex-post evaluation report for both these agreements within 5 years of their entry into force.


Written Question
Import Duties: USA
Thursday 16th June 2022

Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to lift US tariffs on imports from the UK.

Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

In the last 12 months the UK and US have worked together to deliver some major trade breakthroughs, such as resolving the long-running Large Civil Aircraft dispute and agreeing to terminate the Section 301 investigation and suspend tariffs relating to the Digital Services Tax. We have also secured the lifting of the long-standing US ban on the import of British beef and lamb.

Most recently, we successfully removed Section 232 tariffs on imports of UK steel and aluminium products. This will bring welcome relief to the UK steel and aluminium industries which support the jobs of around 80,000 people across the UK supply chain. In response the UK has suspended the rebalancing measures on imports of US products.

During the Trade Dialogues in Baltimore and Aberdeen, Ambassador Tai and Secretary of State Trevelyan agreed to work together to develop a roadmap for further UK US Trade, including further collaboration on reducing market barriers.

We have also recently signed our first state-level trade and economic development Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Indiana, which will create a framework to discuss removal of barriers to trade and investment. We hope to sign more MOUs this year.


Written Question
Trade Barriers: USA
Thursday 16th June 2022

Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions she has had with her US counterpart on reducing market barriers with the United States.

Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

In the last 12 months the UK and US have worked together to deliver some major trade breakthroughs, such as resolving the long-running Large Civil Aircraft dispute and agreeing to terminate the Section 301 investigation and suspend tariffs relating to the Digital Services Tax. We have also secured the lifting of the long-standing US ban on the import of British beef and lamb.

Most recently, we successfully removed Section 232 tariffs on imports of UK steel and aluminium products. This will bring welcome relief to the UK steel and aluminium industries which support the jobs of around 80,000 people across the UK supply chain. In response the UK has suspended the rebalancing measures on imports of US products.

During the Trade Dialogues in Baltimore and Aberdeen, Ambassador Tai and Secretary of State Trevelyan agreed to work together to develop a roadmap for further UK US Trade, including further collaboration on reducing market barriers.

We have also recently signed our first state-level trade and economic development Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Indiana, which will create a framework to discuss removal of barriers to trade and investment. We hope to sign more MOUs this year.


Written Question
Overseas Trade: Russia
Wednesday 15th June 2022

Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of UK sanctions against Russia on reducing trade with that country.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

In lockstep with allies, we continue to impose the largest, most severe economic sanctions Russia has faced.

Sanctions imposed by the UK and international partners are having damaging consequences for Putin’s ability to wage war, with around £275 billion – up to 60% of Russian foreign currency reserves – currently frozen.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office analysis shows Russia is heading for the deepest recession since the Soviet Union’s collapse, deeper than the 2008 global financial crisis. Estimates for Russia’s GDP in 2022 range from -8% to -15%, with the IMF forecasting the economy to continue shrinking a further 2.3% in 2023.


Written Question
Environment Protection: Foreign Investment in UK
Wednesday 15th June 2022

Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department has taken to increase foreign direct investment in the UK’s green industries.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

In a speech on 18 May, the Secretary of State for International Trade set out the UK's ambitions to become a global leader on Green Trade, including through driving greater investment into green industries that will boost economic growth, strengthen supply chains and increase exports, whilst cutting emissions.

The Department has already taken major steps to build the UK’s green industrial base, including those detailed in my answer to the hon. Member for Stockton South on 19 April 2022 (UIN 148430), and my answer to the hon. Member for Hendon on 30 November 2021 (UIN 79334).

To build on successes to date, this Autumn the Department for International Trade, along with the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, will host a Green Trade and Investment Expo in the North East of England, to showcase green investment opportunities, as well as promoting the UK’s climate solutions to overseas buyers.


Written Question
Overseas Trade: South America
Tuesday 14th June 2022

Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to increase trade with South American nations.

Answered by Ranil Jayawardena

This year, we reached the final phase of the process to join the £9 trillion GDP Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade bloc, which includes Chile and Peru.

Beyond trade agreements, we are working with regional partners to grow trade and open markets. British pork producers are now able to export to Chile, a market worth over £280 million in 2021 and, through initiatives like our annual roadshow, we are helping British businesses to seize opportunities in the region, like GlaxoSmithKline who are set to open a new vaccine distribution centre in Uruguay.


Written Question
Trade Barriers
Tuesday 14th June 2022

Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department has taken to reduce barriers to global trade for British businesses.

Answered by Ranil Jayawardena

In the financial year 2020-21, we resolved over 200 trade barriers across 74 countries. Removing these barriers supports British businesses to trade globally, such as opening access to Indonesia’s cosmetics market that imports £374 million a year, and access to the US for British lamb that is estimated to be worth £37 million in first five years of trade.


Written Question
UK Export Finance
Tuesday 14th June 2022

Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of UK Export Finance in supporting UK businesses.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

As advised in my response to the Honourable Member’s previous question (UIN 148424), during financial year 2020/21 UK Export Finance (UKEF) provided support of £12.3 billion to UK exporters selling to 77 countries around the world, supporting 549 companies directly (of whom 79% were small and medium sized enterprises), and thousands more indirectly in supply chains. During that year, UKEF supported around 107,000 UK jobs. UKEF provided £29 billion of support to UK exporters during the period 2016/17 to 2020/21.

UKEF was recently named the world’s best ECA at the International TFG Trade Awards 2022.


Written Question
Trade Agreements: Switzerland
Monday 13th June 2022

Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of amending the UK’s trading relationship with Switzerland.

Answered by Ranil Jayawardena

HM Government recognises the merits of strengthening our trading relationship with Switzerland and has kickstarted work on an enhanced trade deal.

While many British businesses currently benefit from tariff-free trade on goods, we want to do more for our world-leading services sector in particular, where we benefit from over £12 billion in exports to Switzerland annually. A new deal will seek to expand our relationship into industries of the future, including digital trade.


Written Question
Foreign Investment in UK and Overseas Trade: India
Monday 13th June 2022

Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she has had recent discussions with her Indian counterpart on increasing (a) trade with and (b) foreign direct investment from India.

Answered by Ranil Jayawardena

The United Kingdom’s trading relationship with India was worth £24.3 billion in 2021 and we are already India’s top investment destination in Europe. A trade deal with India could take our trading relationship even further.

My Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade recently met her counterpart, Indian Minister Goyal in London, to discuss the opportunities between both our countries.