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Written Question
Trade Agreements: Western Europe
Monday 19th July 2021

Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of the Free Trade Agreement between the UK and Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland agreed on 8 July 2021 for businesses in (a) Morley and Outwood constituency and (b) West Yorkshire.

Answered by Ranil Jayawardena

This free trade agreement – the most advanced Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein have ever signed – is tailored for the British economy. It contains gold standard provisions in digital trade, mobile roaming, and business travel, will reduce tariffs, and offers new duty-free quotas on exports of high-quality British food and farm products.

In 2020, there were 1,015 and 329 businesses in Yorkshire and Humber that exported goods to Norway and Iceland respectively. This deal is designed to make it easier for even more businesses in Morley and Outwood, West Yorkshire and across the United Kingdom to export to Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, saving them time and money.


Written Question
Digital Technology: Singapore
Monday 5th July 2021

Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential benefits for businesses located in (a) Morley and Outwood constituency and (b) the rest of the UK of the Government's proposed UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Digital Economy Agreement (DEA) will expand access to Singapore’s digital economy – worth an estimated £9.4 billion in 2019 – for British businesses in Morley and Outwood and across the country.

In 2019, the UK sold almost £5 billion worth of services to Singapore, 70% of which were digitally delivered. The DEA will open further opportunities for British businesses to deliver their services through digital trade.

UK businesses also sold £5.5 billion worth of goods to Singapore in 2019. Digitising and streamlining customs and border processes can greatly reduce the administrative and other costs goods encounter at the border, benefiting both businesses and consumers.

The DEA would help to cut red tape and boost growth for British businesses who want to trade more efficiently using electronic transactions, e-signatures and e-contracts. It also will aim to remove unjustified data localisation requirements which can add significant costs to UK businesses, effectively shutting smaller traders out of new markets.


Written Question
Foreign Investment in UK: Productivity
Tuesday 20th April 2021

Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to increase foreign investment in UK industry in order to raise productivity.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The UK is a leading foreign investment destination; second in the world for inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) stocks with $2.1 trillion, behind the USA in 2019. DIT analysis of Office for National Statistics data shows that in 2018 foreign owned firms were on average 72% more productive than domestic only firms.

In 2019/20 the Department for International Trade provided support for 1,449 FDI projects, creating almost 45,000 new jobs and safeguarding a further 8,000. In November 2020, the Prime Minister announced a new Office for Investment within the Department but under the sponsorship of Downing Street to support strategic investment. We are also prioritising regional investment and growth through our High Potential Opportunities Programme.


Written Question
Trade and Agriculture Commission
Monday 19th April 2021

Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the members nominated for the Trade and Agriculture Commission have (a) science-led animal welfare expertise and (b) practical commercial experience in farming to high welfare standards.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Trade and Agriculture Commission will be composed of independent experts in their field, whose expertise will be driven by the scope of the provisions of the amendment to the Trade Bill. This includes UK animal welfare standards, as well as UK animal and plant health standards, UK environmental standards relating to agricultural products, and international trade law and policy.


Written Question
Small Businesses: Exports
Monday 22nd March 2021

Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to support small and medium sized enterprises to increase their exports.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

This Government is creating new opportunities for businesses to grow overseas, including through 66 new trade deals that, along with the EU, account for £890bn in bilateral trade. The Department for International Trade is supporting businesses to take advantage of these new opportunities through our global network, a £38 million internationalisation fund, the Export Academy as well new Trade Hubs across the UK. We have increased our lending capacity for exporters to £8bn, with £2bn dedicated to Clean Growth projects, through the award-winning UK Export Finance. We will be further enhancing the Government’s support for exporters through a refreshed Export Strategy.


Written Question
Trade Agreements
Friday 26th February 2021

Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether UK trade agreements with Albania, Canada, Jordan and Mexico are planned to take effect within the first half of 2021.

Answered by Ranil Jayawardena

We have secured trade agreements with 64 countries, plus the EU, covering £889 billion of trade in 2019. Most of these trade agreements entered into effect from 1st January 2021, when the transition period ended.

Some countries with which we have signed agreements have not been able to bring the agreement into effect or have not been able to do so fully. They are in the process of completing the final necessary steps to allow the agreements to enter into effect fully. This is the case for Canada, Jordan and Mexico.

HM Government signed a Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement with Albania on 5th February. Albania is currently undertaking the domestic parliamentary processes required to bring the agreement into effect.

We have set out on GOV.UK the signed agreements that entered into effect on 1st January, and have published advice for those agreements that are not in place fully.


Written Question
Trade Agreements: USA
Friday 12th February 2021

Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent steps she has taken to secure a free trade deal with the US.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The fifth UK-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiating round took place from 19 to 30 October 2020. Almost all chapter areas are now in the advanced stages of talks, and a significant proportion of legal text has been agreed across multiple chapters. UK and US negotiators have also continued to hold working level technical sessions since the end of Round 5 of negotiations, and we believe there is a compelling case to build on the significant progress already made.

The Biden administration is currently in the process of seeking Senate confirmation for the appointment of senior staff, including in the United States Trade Representative (USTR).

The Department for International Trade (DIT) works closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and British Embassy Washington in advancing UK national objectives with the US, including on trade. DIT Ministers continue to engage senior US political figures on a bipartisan basis.


Written Question
Overseas Trade: Coronavirus
Tuesday 11th February 2020

Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential effect of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak on UK trade.

Answered by Conor Burns

We are monitoring the coronavirus outbreak as the situation develops including the potential effects on UK trade.


Written Question
Wines: Exports
Wednesday 2nd October 2019

Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to support British wine exports.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The global demand for British wine continues to increase, with British wine now being sold in over 40 countries world-wide. The Department works hand-in-hand with key industry bodies to help support and promote the sector. Our activities include: hosting international buyer visits to the UK and matchmaking them with UK wine producers; providing financial support for companies to exhibit at key overseas trade shows; supporting overseas missions to new markets; and running influencer visits to continue to enhance the reputation of our wine industry globally.


Written Question
Overseas Trade: Argentina
Monday 9th September 2019

Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the economic situation in Argentina on UK trade with that country.

Answered by Conor Burns

The UK continues to monitor the economic situation in Argentina to ensure we can offer the best possible support to the more than 100 UK companies currently operating in Argentina, as well as prospective exporters.

The UK considers Argentina to be a key trading partner within the Latin America region. We are committed to building our trade and investment with Argentina, which was highlighted by the announcement of Mark Menzies MP as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Argentina in December 2018. Since then Mark has undertaken two visits to Argentina to help foster trade and Baroness Fairhead also visited Argentina in April. We were happy to receive over one hundred Argentinian companies to the UK earlier this year, to explore business opportunities with UK companies in areas where the UK has world class expertise.