Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the threat posed to UK interests by economic coercion by adversaries.

The weaponisation of trade for geopolitical purposes is growing. This Government recognised those risks in our National Security Strategy, and why the Department of Business and Trade announced in the Trade Strategy that we would reform our trade defence tools, including seeking views on new powers to respond to deliberate economic pressure against the UK. Moreover, through the Trade and Industrial Strategies we are working to make our supply chains and economy more resilient and secure, including through simplifying export support services to help businesses diversify and build resilience, and establishing a Supply Chain Centre and an Economic Security Advisory Service.