Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Brexit on exports from the UK to the European Union.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston
UK trade has been affected by several shocks in recent years, including the Covid Pandemic, exiting the EU and war in Ukraine. In the period since leaving the EU, the value of UK exports to the EU is back to pre-Covid levels. Latest figures published by the Office for National Statistics show that the UK total exports of goods and services to the EU were worth £330.2bn in the 12 months to September 2022. This represents an overall increase of 10% in current prices compared to pre-Covid levels in 2018, with services exports growing by 12% in current prices in this period.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they are making in regard to a free trade agreement with India.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston
On 12-13 December 2022 the Secretary of State for International Trade visited India to meet the Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, and to initiate the sixth round of the UK-India Free Trade Agreement negotiations. A written ministerial statement on the latest negotiation round can be found here.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with their EU counterparts regarding new trade deals.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston
The Government is implementing our high-quality Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with the EU. The UK-EU TCA is the world’s biggest ever zero-tariff, zero-quota free trade deal. It secures continued market access across a broad range of key service sectors. The Department, both in London and through its circa 300 staff in the overseas Posts across the EU, continues to work to resolve market access barriers faced by UK businesses, promote UK exports and encourage investment.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to create a cross-industry and government-backed task force to assess the resilience of the UK's supply chains.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
Supply chain resilience is a priority for HM Government. In October, the Prime Minister appointed Sir Dave Lewis to advise on supply chains and identify both immediate improvements and any necessary long-term changes. We are working to secure the supply chains of the future already, including for critical minerals, by working with like-minded nations around the world.
Industry involvement is crucial to enhancing our understanding and the visibility of critical supply chains, and in working to take action to strengthen their resilience. We regularly engage with businesses to better understand vulnerabilities, risks, business impacts and the adaption measures being taken to improve the resilience of supply chains.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ban all imports from China’s Xinjiang region unless they could be proven not to involve forced labour.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to launch a new Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) Trade Support Fund to help firms trade internationally.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce a strategy for foreign investment growth that increases (1) jobs, (2) skills, and (3) productivity, across the UK.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to create a Business and Trade Growth Office at the Department for International Trade to encourage smaller businesses to increase exports.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
As opposed to creating a new office, the Department for International Trade announced a refreshed Export Strategy, ‘Made in UK, Sold to the World’ on 17 November at our first International Trade Week. This business-centred 12-Point Plan is designed to focus on barriers faced by small and medium-sized enterprises, encouraging them to ‘sell to the world’ and accelerate our race to £1 trillion exports per year.
Supported by the Export Support Service (ESS), the UK Export Academy, UK Export Finance, our International Trade Advisers and global networks, UK businesses will be supported at every stage in their export journey. Our new Trade and Investment offices in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast will ensure this support reaches businesses UK-wide.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) extend, and (2) expand, financial support for UK companies at trade shows in other countries.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
Existing support for attending trade shows is available via the European Regional Development Fund supported £38m Internationalisation Fund, which provides co-investment to small and medium-sized enterprises to internationalise.
HM Government extended support on 30 November 2021, by launching the UK Tradeshow Programme. The scheme builds business capability to maximise benefits from participating at trade shows overseas. The programme offers some exhibiting businesses up to £4,000 of financial support.
The programme expands from January 2022 to include support for businesses visiting (prior to deciding whether to exhibit) selected overseas trade shows, to get them exhibitor-ready. This includes assistance of up to £500 to all successful applicants.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to streamline administration of support to the UK’s export scheme to help small firms access trade programmes more easily.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
To make access to UK Export Finance (UKEF) support quicker and easier for firms, the General Export Facility is being delivered through leading high street lenders on a delegated basis, so that in many instances a guarantee can be granted automatically and with little waiting time. UKEF has also increased the amount that participating banks can administer automatically from £2 million to £5 million, allowing applications to be processed more quickly.