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Written Question
Coronavirus: Vaccination
Thursday 30th June 2022

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what meetings they have had with ambassadors at the World Trade Organisation with (1) the African group, and (2) the Least-developed countries group, about negotiations on the COVID-19 text produced by the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Council.

Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel

The UK has continuously engaged with the African Group and the Least Developed Countries Group, represented by Tanzania and Bangladesh respectively, throughout the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) debate. A consensus-based agreement on a TRIPS Decision was reached at the World Trade Organisation’s 12th Ministerial Conference, which both groups are eligible to use.


Written Question
Iron and Steel: Exports
Tuesday 29th March 2022

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what further steps they are taking to increase exports of steel.

Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel

The Department for International Trade recently published our refreshed Export Strategy with an action-led 12-point plan. We have introduced a whole new range of support measures to help exporters thrive in the global market, internationalising key trading sectors, and raising the UK’s exporting culture in the long-term.

Further to this, following two months of intensive discussions, the UK secured an expansive removal of Section 232 tariffs on UK steel and aluminium exports to the US on 22 March. The solution reached with the US is bespoke for the UK and reflects the needs and interests of our steel and aluminium industries.

From 1 June 2022, the US will replace its Section 232 tariffs on certain UK exports of steel and aluminium with “tariff-rate quotas” (TRQs). This re-opens tariff-free access to the US market back to levels before section 232 tariffs up to a specified volume. This will bring welcome relief to the UK steel and aluminium industries which support the jobs of around 80,000 people across the UK supply chain.


Written Question
Trade Agreements
Monday 21st March 2022

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to increase the proportion of UK trade through free trade agreements.

Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel

We have secured free trade agreements (FTAs) with 70 countries plus the EU, covering trade worth £772 billion in 2020. So far, this year, we have signed an FTA with New Zealand and a Digital Economy Agreement with Singapore, commenced the second round of FTA negotiations with India, launched a consultation for an enhanced FTA with Israel, and launched FTA negotiations with Greenland. We are preparing for FTA negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council, Canada and Mexico, which we expect to launch later this year.


Written Question
Trade Agreements: Conditions of Employment
Monday 21st March 2022

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that workers' rights are maintained in trade agreements.

Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel

HM Government shares the public’s high regard for workers’ rights and the trade deals secured with both Australia and New Zealand recently demonstrate that we will work hard to maintain a high level of protection for our labour standards in trade agreements.


Written Question
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership: Dispute Resolution
Monday 21st March 2022

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential effect of investor state dispute settlement provisions in the CPTPP on business in the UK.

Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel

Investment protection provisions protect investors and their investments against discrimination, unfair treatment and expropriation of their assets without due process or compensation. Investor state dispute settlement provisions exist to protect British businesses and investments abroad, including pension funds and small and medium sized enterprises.

The UK already has investor-dispute settlement mechanisms in place with 90 countries and has never been taken to a tribunal using these mechanisms. Accession to Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will help to secure the UK’s already strong position in investment.


Written Question
UK Trade with EU
Monday 21st March 2022

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what further steps they are taking to help businesses export to European markets.

Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel

Our refreshed Export Strategy, Made in the UK Sold to the World, focuses on a business-facing 12 point action plan to support exporters. At the centre of this transformation is our new Export Support Service, launched in October 2021, which provides a single point of contact and entry for businesses exporting to Europe and helps businesses to navigate government support.

The UK Export Academy provides free training, mentoring and resources to boost British businesses’ global trading capability.

Our new Trade and investment offices in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast will ensure trade opportunities and support are available to businesses UK-wide, levelling up export growth and supporting jobs.


Written Question
Trade Promotion
Monday 21st March 2022

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent progress they have made in implementing their Made in the UK, Sold to the World strategy.

Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel

The 12-point strategy has a range of new and existing support measures and we are focused on delivery. For instance, following a successful regional pilot, the Export Academy is now available to businesses across the country. The Export Support Service (ESS) resolves questions businesses have about trading with Europe and will expand this year to cover more global markets.

Our new Made in the UK, Sold to the World campaign promotes the opportunities of exporting to UK businesses. UK Export Finance has enhanced its offer to better support the finance needs of UK exporters by expanding its product range, increasing engagement with small and medium-sized enterprises, and seeking opportunities for UK exporters through its growing overseas network. We continue to work towards opening new markets for UK exporters through our new trade deals and broader work to remove market access barriers.


Written Question
Small Businesses: Trade Agreements
Wednesday 16th March 2022

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to enable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to benefit from the provisions on small businesses in free trade agreements.

Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel

I refer the noble Lady to the answer I gave her on 3 February 2022, UIN: HL5511.


Written Question
Iron and Steel: Exports
Tuesday 8th February 2022

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what further steps they will take to increase exports of UK steel.

Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel

The Department for International Trade recently published our refreshed Export Strategy with an action-led 12-point plan. We have introduced a whole new range of support measures to help exporters thrive in the global market, internationalising key trading sectors, and raising the UK’s exporting culture in the long-term.


Written Question
Small Businesses: Exports
Thursday 3rd February 2022

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) how many, and (2) what proportion, of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises they have provided support with exports to, in each of the last three months.

Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel

The Department is not able to provide reliably the management information data requested across all of the services provided. However, published research from the Export Client Quality Survey reported over 19,000 unique businesses supported by the services covered by the survey between April 2018 and March 2019.

More recently, on 1 October, DIT launched the Export Support Service where UK businesses can get answers to practical questions about exporting to Europe by accessing cross government in-formation and support all in one place. 95% of enquiries into the Export Support Service (ESS) have been from Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Based on this we estimate that ESS provided support to 1,000 SMEs in October 2021, 1,280 in November 2021 and 970 in December 2021.