Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential benefits of the trade deal with Australia for the East Midlands.

Nearly 1,200 East Midlands business exported goods to Australia last year. East Midlands business exported goods worth more than £200m to Australia in 2020. The world-famous East Midlands shoemaking industry, the region’s manufacturers and high-quality food exporters could all be big winners from an Australia free trade deal. The deal will cut tariffs on key UK exports, while removing red tape and aligning regulations would make exporting easier for East Midland industries such as machinery and chemicals, which exported £130m worth of goods to Australia last year.