Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for International Trade and (b) the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential effect of adopting the lesser duty rule as part of a future trade remedy scheme once the UK leaves the EU.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regularly discusses trade policy issues with his colleagues. The Trade White Paper, published 9 October, set out the Government’s proposals for an independent UK trade remedy scheme once we have left the EU. Our policy is for the amount of any duties to be set at the lower of either: the level of the dumping or subsidy; or the level of injury caused to a UK industry as identified during the investigation process. This approach is known as the lesser duty rule. The Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Bill, introduced on 20 November, included provisions to apply the lesser duty rule where remedies are recommended to address injury caused by dumping or subsidies.