Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Courts and Liam Fox

Thursday 11th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Robert Courts (Witney) (Con)]

2. What steps he is taking to promote free trade and WTO reform.

[The Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade (Dr Liam Fox)]

This weekend, it will be three years since my Department was formed, and in that time the UK has worked with partners to ensure that the World Trade Organisation is equipped with the tools needed to tackle present challenges and address 21st-century trade issues at a time of significant global headwinds. I emphasised the urgent need for WTO reform in discussions with my counterparts at the G20 trade and digital economy ministerial meeting in Japan a few weeks ago.

[Dr Fox]

Continuity of existing trade terms is in everybody’s interests. I have to say that when the House of Commons gives mixed signals about the possibility of a no-deal exit, quite understandably some of our trading partners wonder whether it is worth investing in getting those continuity agreements. What I would say to those trading partners is that a no-deal exit is not entirely within the control of the United Kingdom; we might end up with a no-deal exit from the European Union. It is in everybody’s interests to have those safety nets in place.

[Robert Courts]

Free trade has the ability to spread the blessings of prosperity and to bring nations closer together. What is my right hon. Friend doing to spread free trade, particularly with our friends in the Commonwealth and the Anglophone countries?

United States Tariffs: Steel and Aluminium

Debate between Robert Courts and Liam Fox

Report stage: House of Commons
Monday 12th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dr Fox]

I am not sure how many people, if any, had advance notice of President Trump’s initial announcement.

[Robert Courts (Witney) (Con)]

What representations has my right hon. Friend made to China with regard to tackling the global overcapacity of steel?

[Dr Fox]

As I have said, through the work that we are doing multilaterally, there are currently 28 outstanding recommendations that we expect China to apply. The Prime Minister raised this matter on her recent visit to China, and we are continuing the conversation. We understand China’s need for the production of aluminium and steel for export and for its domestic use, but if we are going to have a rules-based system, the rules need to be obeyed. They also need to be transparent, and we need to have sufficient information to determine whether the WTO rules are still effective.

Export Licensing: High Court Judgment

Debate between Robert Courts and Liam Fox

Monday 10th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Robert Courts (Witney) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend please tell the House whether, in his view, the High Court had before it all the information it needed to reach the judgment that has been handed down today?

[Dr Fox]

That was very much the view of the Court.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Courts and Liam Fox

Thursday 6th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Dr Fox]

We have made it clear all along that we intend to have maximum consultation and collaboration in that area and, to emphasise the point, in our manifesto we set out a plan to create a new board of trade, which will ensure that trade and investment is equally spread, as far as we can, across all parts of the United Kingdom—the devolved Administrations, as well as the English regions.

[Robert Courts (Witney) (Con)]

T3. As well as an economic opportunity, there is a moral opportunity in trade with the developing world. Will the Secretary of State please tell the House what steps he is taking to support trade with developing countries?

[Dr Fox]

We have made it clear that, post Brexit, we will continue with duty-free access for the least-developed countries, but we need to see whether we can go further and reduce some of the burdens, particularly as we leave the customs union and are outside the common external tariff, by stopping the distortions on value added, which diminish the chance of investment in some of those developing countries.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robert Courts and Liam Fox

Thursday 9th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Robert Courts (Witney) (Con)]

9. What recent discussions he has had with the Government of New Zealand on future bilateral trade and investment.

[The Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade (Dr Liam Fox)]

I launched a trade policy dialogue with the New Zealand Trade Minister last October to consider how we can strengthen our economic ties. Last month, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister met the Prime Minister of New Zealand and agreed that preparatory work should be undertaken on the potential for an ambitious new free trade agreement between the UK and New Zealand, once the UK leaves the European Union.

[Dr Fox]

I very much agree. The UK exported over £1.2 billion-worth of goods to New Zealand last year, and opportunities for our rural businesses and farmers will be a very important part of our work as we take forward the dialogue with New Zealand, which I intend to visit over the summer months.

[Robert Courts]

This year the British New Zealand Business Association, which exists to develop trade between our two countries, reaches its centenary. As someone who has worked in New Zealand, I have first-hand experience of the warmth that exists between our two countries. Does my right hon. Friend agree that there is hope for, and that we look forward to, a great increase in trade between our countries in the years ahead?

[Dr Fox]

I certainly hope that will be possible, given the freedom that we will have outside the European Union to negotiate such a free trade agreement. It is not just our two countries that will benefit; all countries around the globe will benefit from the new global Britain and our attitude towards global free trade, with all the benefits it brings, especially to the world’s poor.