Asked by: Peter Bone (Independent - Wellingborough)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress her Department has been made on securing a free trade agreement with the United States.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
We have had five productive rounds of negotiations to date and agreed a significant proportion of legal text across multiple chapters.
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade attended the first UK-US Future of Atlantic Trade Dialogue last month and hosted the second in Aberdeen this week to progress mutual priorities with USTR Katherine Tai.
Asked by: Peter Bone (Independent - Wellingborough)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment his Department has made of recent trends in UK Trade Statistics; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In 2017, compared with 2016, UK exports of goods and services increased by 11.3% in nominal terms, faster than imports (up 9.3%). As a result the trade deficit narrowed by £7.0bn, to £33.7bn.
Data on trade are available from the ONS at:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/previousReleases
Asked by: Peter Bone (Independent - Wellingborough)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of export opportunities for the UK in non-EU countries.
Answered by Mark Garnier
The Department for International Trade (DIT) runs nearly 200 export High Value Campaigns, across a range of countries, the majority being non-EU, focusing government resources where they add the most value for the benefit of the whole of the UK. Since the election in June, DIT has been reviewing its exports strategy which partners across the world working closely with the FCO and DfID to look beyond traditional markets to support wider government objectives.
Asked by: Peter Bone (Independent - Wellingborough)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent steps he has taken to improve trading links with the US.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As the UK prepares for a new era outside the EU, we will look to forge even closer trade and commercial ties with the US. American commitment to this goal was reaffirmed during positive meetings I had with the Secretary for Commerce and US Trade Representative in Washington a fortnight ago.
We agreed to hold a joint working group this month which will begin to lay the groundwork for a possible future UK-US free trade agreement.
Asked by: Peter Bone (Independent - Wellingborough)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of current trends in (a) exports and (b) imports.
Answered by Mark Garnier
UK exports increased (in real terms) by 1.4% and imports by 2.5% between 2015 and 2016.
In its latest forecasts (March 2017), the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects UK exports to increase faster than imports in 2017 and 2018.
OBR forecasts - UK exports and imports (chained-linked volumes, seasonally adjusted)
| Outturn | Forecast | |||||
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
Exports (annual % change) | 6.1 | 1.4 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
Imports (annual % change) | 5.5 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 |
Source: Office for Budget Responsibility, Economic and Fiscal Outlook, March 2017