Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Global Rights Compliance Risk at the Source: Critical Mineral Supply Chains and State-Imposed Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region, published on 11 June, in particular the findings that China has expanded critical minerals operations in Xinjiang, and that the extraction industry relies on state-imposed forced labour programmes.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This government will continue to speak up on human rights in China, including the repression of people in Xinjiang, and will continue to hold China to account. The new Critical Minerals Strategy will help secure the supply of critical minerals vital for the UK's economic growth and clean energy transition.
The strategy will promote responsible and transparent supply chains, including through greater adoption of responsible business practices to protect local communities and the environment. The strategy will set the long term ambition of securing supply of critical minerals and harnessing our competitive advantage in midstream and recycling. It will also set out how this will be achieved by optimising domestic production and by working collaboratively with international partners to achieve this. We will continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of the UK's existing measures, alongside the impacts of new policy tools to tackle forced labour in supply chains and take action where appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding in the report by Global Rights Compliance Risk at the Source: Critical Mineral Supply Chains and State-Imposed Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region, published on 11 June, that supply chains of minerals from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are traced to global brands.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This government will continue to speak up on human rights in China, including the repression of people in Xinjiang, and will continue to hold China to account. The new Critical Minerals Strategy will help secure the supply of critical minerals vital for the UK's economic growth and clean energy transition.
The strategy will promote responsible and transparent supply chains, including through greater adoption of responsible business practices to protect local communities and the environment. The strategy will set the long term ambition of securing supply of critical minerals and harnessing our competitive advantage in midstream and recycling. It will also set out how this will be achieved by optimising domestic production and by working collaboratively with international partners to achieve this. We will continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of the UK's existing measures, alongside the impacts of new policy tools to tackle forced labour in supply chains and take action where appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding in the report by Global Rights Compliance Risk at the Source: Critical Mineral Supply Chains and State-Imposed Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region, published on 11 June, that China controls at least one stage of many key mineral value chains.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This government will continue to speak up on human rights in China, including the repression of people in Xinjiang, and will continue to hold China to account. The new Critical Minerals Strategy will help secure the supply of critical minerals vital for the UK's economic growth and clean energy transition.
The strategy will promote responsible and transparent supply chains, including through greater adoption of responsible business practices to protect local communities and the environment. The strategy will set the long term ambition of securing supply of critical minerals and harnessing our competitive advantage in midstream and recycling. It will also set out how this will be achieved by optimising domestic production and by working collaboratively with international partners to achieve this. We will continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of the UK's existing measures, alongside the impacts of new policy tools to tackle forced labour in supply chains and take action where appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding in the report by Global Rights Compliance Risk at the Source: Critical Mineral Supply Chains and State-Imposed Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region, published on 11 June, that output of titanium, magnesium and lithium from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is set to increase; and what action they are taking to decrease UK dependency on these products where slave labour has been used.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This government will continue to speak up on human rights in China, including the repression of people in Xinjiang, and will continue to hold China to account. The new Critical Minerals Strategy will help secure the supply of critical minerals vital for the UK's economic growth and clean energy transition.
The strategy will promote responsible and transparent supply chains, including through greater adoption of responsible business practices to protect local communities and the environment. The strategy will set the long term ambition of securing supply of critical minerals and harnessing our competitive advantage in midstream and recycling. It will also set out how this will be achieved by optimising domestic production and by working collaboratively with international partners to achieve this. We will continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of the UK's existing measures, alongside the impacts of new policy tools to tackle forced labour in supply chains and take action where appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether their discussions under clause 6(a) of the UK–USA Economic Prosperity Deal will include measures to search cargo plans from Xinjiang to ensure that they are not carrying goods made with forced labour.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We have concluded a landmark economic deal with the United States, making the UK the first country to reach an agreement with President Trump. This is a unique deal that ensures UK industries are protected; talks with the US are ongoing. Conversations on labour practices, including forced labour in supply chains will form part of the broader discussions on a wider UK-US Economic Deal.
This government will continue to stand firm on human rights in China, including the repression of people in Xinjiang, and will continue to hold China to account. I raised the UK's concerns over human rights abuses, including in Xinjiang, with counterparts during my recent visit to China.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will ban import of electric vehicles that use software from Chinese or Russian companies in order to implement clause 5(b) of the UK–USA Economic Prosperity Deal.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government continually monitors its policies to understand and mitigate potential security threats from a wide range of technologies. The UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal does not preclude us from making independent decisions and we will ensure that any action we take is appropriate for our circumstances. This is a unique deal that ensures UK industries are protected. For the car industry, we have negotiated a 100,000 unit quota that reduces tariffs from 27.5% to 10%.
As set out in the General Terms, negotiations with the US will build on our close collaboration to further increase the resilience of our supply chains.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will review the China Investment Corporation's board seat and 10-percent stake in Heathrow Airport as part of measures to implement clause 4(b) of the UK–USA Economic Prosperity Deal.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We have concluded a landmark economic deal with the United States, making the UK the first country to reach an agreement with President Trump. This is a unique deal that ensures UK industries are protected; talks with the US are ongoing.
The UK will continue to use investment screening measures that are already in place. The agreement is an opportunity to build on our economic security collaboration and further increase the resilience of our supply chains.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to align the UK with the EU Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence, and what assessment they have made of the impact of such alignment on reducing trade barriers with EU.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has noted the European Commission’s recent Omnibus proposal to update the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). This Directive will apply to UK companies generating over €450 million in turnover within the EU.
We continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of the UK’s existing measures, alongside the impacts of new policy tools that are emerging, including in the EU, to ensure we can best promote responsible business practices.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel on 28 April 2022 (HL7909), what is the current status of Project DEFEND; and what assessment they have made of its success in (1) strengthening national resilience, and (2) reducing supply chain dependency on China.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Under the previous government the then Department for International Trade (DIT) ran Project Defend from April 2020 to March 2021 when the project closed.
We recognise the importance of strengthening the resilience of UK supply chains to boost our preparedness for potential disruptions and shocks, Further consideration will be given to this in our forthcoming Trade Strategy. More widely, we are carrying out a full and comprehensive audit of the UK’s interests with regards to China, which will bring a consistent, long-term and strategic approach.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the UK's re-export of goods from Xinjiang that are made with Uyghur forced labour to Europe and North America.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
No UK business should be complicit in forced labour. Under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, businesses who operate in the UK and have a turnover of £36m or more are required to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their supply chains.
This Government will stand firm on human rights in China, including the repression of people in Xinjiang and will continue to hold China to account. The Government continues to review how we can best tackle forced labour in supply chains and continues to consider measures that would improve supply chain transparency and traceability.