Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK is negotiating a modern, comprehensive, and ambitious trade deal with the GCC. Government analysis shows that in the long run a deal is expected to increase trade by at least 16% and add £1.6 billion a year to the UK economy.
We continue to work with GCC members to uncover and remove trade barriers to boost trade, and to drive forward investment into the UK, creating jobs and supporting the UK economy.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, What recent discussions she has had with her Indian counterpart on increasing (a) trade with and (b) foreign direct investment from India.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The United Kingdom’s trading relationship with India was worth over £24 billion last year and we are already India’s top investment destination in Europe. My Rt Hon. Friend for Berwick-upon-Tweed, the former Secretary of State for International Trade engaged with her Indian counterpart in August, and her successor, my Rt. Hon. Friend for Saffron Walden, has already spoken with him.
With a 1.4 billion population and an increasing demand for high quality products and services, India is a clear trading priority for the UK. Together, we have already reduced trade barriers ranging from medical devices to Scotch whisky and Welsh lamb.
We remain determined to strengthen our economic cooperation with India.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 Marcus Fysh
British businesses have been helped to export to 61 countries around the world over the past year with £7.4 billion of government support through UK Export Finance – providing a significant boost to jobs and the UK economy.
This support has helped 545 companies directly (of whom 81% were small and medium sized enterprises), and thousands more indirectly in supply chains. During that year, UK Export Finance supported around 72,000 UK jobs. UK Export Finance provided £33 billion of support to UK exporters during the period 2017/18 to 2021/22. UK Export Finance was recently named the world’s best ECA at the International TFG Trade Awards 2022.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 Conor Burns
Removing barriers boosts British exports globally to new and familiar markets. Teams across the Department – both in the UK and oversees – are working tirelessly to do so, opening up exciting new opportunities for British businesses across our four nations. We have an ambitious programme of FTA negotiations, bilateral Joint Economic Trade Committees (JETCOs), Enhanced Trade Partnerships and multiple technical discussions with partner countries to address the barriers that British business raise with us. And our ambition does not stop when a Free Trade Agreement is signed, our regular ongoing trade dialogues with FTA partners provide us with a forum to market access issues and open these markets still further.
Removing our priority trade barriers has the potential to deliver export opportunities to British business worth roughly £20 billion. As a recent example, in July we removed a priority barrier with India through an agreement to recognise each other’s higher education qualifications. This will make UK universities even more appealing to Indian students where the benefits are estimated to be worth over £100,000 per person.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress her Department has made towards negotiating a bilateral free trade agreement with Israel.
Answered by James Duddridge
On 20th July, we launched negotiations between the United Kingdom and Israel for an upgraded, innovation-focused Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with services at its heart.
The first round of negotiations with Israel were completed in September.
An upgraded FTA with Israel will cement our relationship with a rapidly growing economy, taking our trading relationship to the next level.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will make it her policy to hold discussions with her US counterpart on reducing market barriers with the US.
Answered by Conor Burns
We have been working closely with the US to enhance market access for exporters in both countries, removing tariffs and other barriers to trade.
We have this year agreed with the US to lift tariffs on UK steel and aluminium products, helping a sector that supports 80,000 jobs across the UK. We have also lifted the historic US ban on the export of British beef and lamb to the US.
We continue close discussions with the US – through our UK-US Trade Dialogues this year, led by the Department for International Trade Secretary of State, where we agreed to produce a new Roadmap to strengthen our bilateral collaboration at federal level, and through our memoranda of understanding with individual states.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 James Duddridge
We have been working closely with the US to reduce US tariffs on imports from the UK. This includes securing the removal of US section 232 tariffs on imports of UK steel and aluminium products, which were lifted on 1st June and which help a sector which supports 80,000 jobs across the UK. Last year we also resolved the long-running Large Civil Aircraft dispute, which included the removal of tariffs on other goods imposed by both sides, including on exports to the US of iconic UK goods such as cashmere and single-malt Scotch whisky.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 James Duddridge
With allies, we continue to impose the most severe economic sanctions Russia has faced, stifling the Russian economy.
According to Department for International Trade analysis of HMRC trade data, UK-Russia trade in goods that is now wholly or partially sanctioned was worth £19bn in 2021.
Office for National Statistics analysis shows that UK goods exports to Russia in June 2022 were 67% lower than average monthly exports in the 12 months to February 2022, while UK goods imports from Russia were 97% lower. This was the lowest value of UK goods imports from Russia since records began in January 1997.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she has discussed with her US counterpart (a) the potential merits of reducing market barriers between the UK and US and (b) increasing levels of trade with that country.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Secretary of State regularly raises increasing trade with her counterpart. In the last year, we’ve reduced market barriers through resolving the Large Civil Aircraft dispute, lifting the ban on the import of British beef and lamb, and removing tariffs on UK steel and aluminium. Removing the steel and aluminium tariffs support 80,000 jobs across the UK. At the recent Trade Dialogues, both parties agreed to develop a roadmap for further UK-US Trade. In parallel to our federal US strategy, the UK has signed two state-level MOUs that seek to reduce market barriers and hope to sign more in the coming months.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent steps her Department has taken to help ensure that British businesses are able to trade overseas in the context of the UK no longer being part of EU trade agreements.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
To date, we have agreed trade deals with 71 countries plus the EU, covering trade worth £808 billion of our bilateral trade in 2021.
We are just getting started. Negotiations to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership are continuing. In addition, we have launched negotiations with India, Canada, Mexico, and the Gulf Cooperation Council, plus we are preparing to begin negotiations on new trade deals with Israel and Switzerland.