Oral Answers to Questions

Ranil Jayawardena Excerpts

Thursday 19th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con)]

What steps her Department is taking to consult (a) trade unions and (b) civil society organisations on the development of trade policy.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mr Ranil Jayawardena)]

We are committed to making sure that our ambitious global trade policy works for every corner of our United Kingdom. Trade unions and civil society are crucial to that, so I am delighted to have expanded our engagement to include a dedicated trade union advisory group and a series of civil society and think-tank roundtables from across the political spectrum, which I will chair.

[Edward Timpson]

I recently had a meeting with Jonty Cliffe and Claudia Bayley, the chairs of the Cheshire Young Farmers Club, and they were concerned to make sure that the views and priorities of all young people who work in agriculture and affiliated industries were fully integrated and taken into account by the work of the Trade and Agriculture Commission. I have raised this issue with the commission’s chair, Tim Smith, but will my hon. Friend also discuss it with the commission to make sure that those views and priorities are taken into account, because those young people are the future of British farming?

[Mr Jayawardena]

That is a great and typically thoughtful question. The TAC includes representative bodies from the length and breadth of Britain, so I encourage young farmers and others to continue to share their views with those bodies, which work proactively to provide insight to us and the TAC. Indeed, as my hon. Friend says, many young farmers—such as Jonty and Claudia in the Cheshire Young Farmers Club in my hon. Friend’s county and Tom Janaway in the National Farmers Union in mine—are already actively involved in sharing their views.

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

What assessment she made of the potential effect of the free trade agreement with Japan on the UK’s progress on meeting its climate change commitments.

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[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab) [V]]

There are reports that the Government plan to remove anti-dumping duties on imported bicycles at the end of transition, leading to a flood of cheap imports from China, which would be devastating for UK bike manufacturers. Can the Minister tell me what proportion of the domestic market consists of bikes made in the UK and confirm that if it is more than 1%, anti-dumping duties should remain?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mr Ranil Jayawardena)]

I thank the hon. Lady for that question, which is important, because we must apply anti-dumping measures in a clear and accurate way. The Department has assessed which of the existing anti-dumping trade remedies should be transitioned, and evidence has been provided by British producers of bicycles, which thus far has indicated that there are not sufficient British sales to transition the measure, but we will review any further information. That information would need to demonstrate that the British market share of British-based producers of the product in question was above 1%.

[Mark Jenkinson (Workington) (Con)]

With the help of my right hon. Friend’s Department, McMenon Engineering in my Workington constituency has recently opened a manufacturing facility in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Will she join me in paying tribute to its commitment to exporting Workington’s talent and look to bring the Board of Trade to its Workington facility for a future meeting?