Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Living Wage Foundation's real wage calculator, if she will make estimate of how many (a) direct employees, (b) contractors and (c) agency workers who work in her Department and relevant agencies and public bodies receive a wage below that of either (i) the UK Real Living Wage outside of Greater London or (ii) the London Living Wage inside of Greater London.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Department for International Trade does not have any direct employees, contractors or agency workers that receive a wage below the UK Real Living Wage outside of Greater London or the London Living Wage inside of Greater London.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what her Departments policy is for consulting with UK businesses on the effect of the UK Global Tariff on those businesses.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Free Trade Agreements (FTA) are just one way in which we can help secure greater choice and lower prices for British shoppers. We intend to achieve a zero tariff and zero quotas FTA with the EU by December 2020, so we do not expect any tariffs to apply to EU imports.
If we do not have an FTA, the “UK Global Tariff” (UKGT) will apply to EU imports, in common with imports from the rest of the world where FTAs have not yet been negotiated. The UKGT almost doubles the number of products coming into the United Kingdom that are tariff free relative to what is currently applied.
The UKGT was developed following a public consultation in which interested parties from across the United Kingdom had the opportunity to help shape the policy. The over 1,300 responses which were received were assessed in a fair and equal manner, and we remain open to feedback from interested parties. To that end, HM Government will publish a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) alongside the legislation, as is standard practice for all taxes.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans she has to mitigate a potential increase in costs to the UK consumer of imported goods in the event that a new UK-EU relationship is not agreed by the end of the transition period.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Free Trade Agreements (FTA) are just one way in which we can help secure greater choice and lower prices for British shoppers. We intend to achieve a zero tariff and zero quotas FTA with the EU by December 2020, so we do not expect any tariffs to apply to EU imports.
If we do not have an FTA, the “UK Global Tariff” (UKGT) will apply to EU imports, in common with imports from the rest of the world where FTAs have not yet been negotiated. The UKGT almost doubles the number of products coming into the United Kingdom that are tariff free relative to what is currently applied.
The UKGT was developed following a public consultation in which interested parties from across the United Kingdom had the opportunity to help shape the policy. The over 1,300 responses which were received were assessed in a fair and equal manner, and we remain open to feedback from interested parties. To that end, HM Government will publish a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) alongside the legislation, as is standard practice for all taxes.