Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the progress of trade negotiations with the government of the United States.

The second round of negotiations for a UK-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) took place from 15-26 June 2020. A Written Ministerial Statement was published on Tuesday 30 June, updating parliament on the outcomes of the round.

Talks continued to be positive and constructive, with progress being made towards a comprehensive agreement. Discussions spanned the majority of areas covered by an FTA, with further sessions coming over the next two weeks on remaining major policy areas.

During the round, talks advanced across a number of chapters and teams are now into detailed discussions on text.

There was good progress on a dedicated Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) chapter. This included agreement that the next formal UK-US SME Dialogue will be held in Boston in October 2020.

The third negotiating round is expected to take place at the end of July.