Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, which non-EU countries his Department has identified as best for future trade deals in the automotive sector.

We are working with a number of other countries to explore the best ways to develop our current trade and investment relationships and ensure that Britain becomes a global leader in free trade once we leave the EU. Automotive is an important sector for the UK and a trade success story with exports worth £40bn – 13.3% of the UK’s total manufacturing exports. It is crucially important to understand the priorities for the sector, as we develop a future UK trade policy and the Department for International Trade officials maintain a dialogue with the industry, working closely with officials in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for Exiting the European Union and other government departments.