Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the economic effect of non-tariff barriers on levels of trade between the UK and the EU.

The Government has not made an assessment of the economic effect of non-tariff barriers because as we have consistently said it would be impossible for us to calculate an exact model, number or scenario to capture the complexity of the varying impacts felt across different parts of the economy as a result of the Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement.

Whilst leaving the EU’s customs union and single market on the 1^st January has changed the way we trade with the EU, businesses overall have been adjusting well and continue to trade effectively. This is in no small part to the extensive preparations we have made over the last year and the continuing dialogue we are in with businesses about our new trading relationship with the EU.

Furthermore, the agreement we have successfully negotiated, is one which not only guarantees zero quotas and tariffs but also contains wide-ranging provisions on Technical Barriers to Trade which facilitates trade by avoiding unnecessary regulatory barriers. Together these mean that the UK trading relationship with the EU will remain strong well into the future.