Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mike Freer and Shaun Bailey

Thursday 20th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Shaun Bailey (West Bromwich West) (Con)]

T2. With over £2.6 billion-worth of exports, I am sure my right hon. Friend agrees that the Black Country is, and will remain, the beating industrial heart of the west midlands. As she goes out with ministerial colleagues to bat for the Black Country on the industrial stage, what is she doing to ensure that supply chain issues in particular are at the forefront of our trade negotiations, and that businesses such as KJV Furniture in Oldbury are able to import and export smoothly; and will she ensure that once again other areas of the world can see the fantastic wares that are made in the Black Country?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mike Freer)]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. A key challenge facing the UK and other major exporters is shipping container costs, and there is ongoing engagement across Government, including the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Competition and Markets Authority and the Department for Transport, to ensure that we understand the background causes of price rises and their impacts, such as by contacting the shipping lines and engaging with international partners where necessary to address the key issue of supply lines that my hon. Friend raised.