Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Trade Remedies Investigations Directorate's Statement of Intended Final Determination published 19 May 2021, when she plans to respond to the recommendations of the Trade Remedies Investigations Directorate on the UK steel industry; and what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of that analysis by representative bodies and trade unions in the UK steel industry.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The independent Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) will be formally established in June and will operate at arms-length from the Department for International Trade. Through its temporary precursor, the Trade Remedies Investigations Directorate, it has been engaging with interested parties and others throughout its review of the steel safeguard measure. The review began in October 2020.
The publication of their Statement of Intended Preliminary Decision on 19th May provides an opportunity for domestic producers and others to comment on their findings before they make a recommendation to my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade.
When a recommendation is received, the Secretary of State may only accept or reject it, and cannot amend the details of the TRA’s recommendation. Under the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018, the Secretary of State does not have powers to impose measures unless the TRA provides a recommendation to do so, which she may then accept.
We still expect that the review will conclude before the safeguard measure is due to expire at the end of June. The Secretary of State, fellow Ministers and I continue to engage with the industry and others.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the letter addressed to her from Export Partners UK dated 9 April 2021 on British exporters.
Answered by Graham Stuart
We welcome engagement from Export Partners UK and we will consider proposals as we refresh our Export Strategy. Announcements in respect of grant allocations, and the 2021-22 programme for trade show support, will be dependent on how business planning discussions are concluded as part of the overall Spending Review priorities process.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, for what reason the interim report of the Trade and Agriculture Commission round table on ethics does not include the contributions made by the trade union representatives who were in attendance.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Trade and Agriculture Commission’s interim progress update was written and published prior to the ethical trading roundtable, which took place on 6 November.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the exemptions for public procurement in (a) Article 8.84 3(a), (b) Article 8.85 3(a), (c) Article 8.73 3(a), (d) Article 8.73 3(b) and (e) footnote [2] in the Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Japan for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership include the processing of (i) data, (ii) data flows, (iii) data transfer, (iv) access to data, (v) source code and (vi) algorithms in (A) present and (B) future forms of public data created by (I) artificial intelligence, (II) automated decision-making and (III) digital technology; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Articles 8.73 (Source Code), 8.84 (Cross-border transfer of information by electronic means) and 8.85 (Location of computing facilities) of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) contain exemptions for government procurement. These exemptions create a derogation from some or all the obligations contained in Articles 8.73, 8.84 and 8.85 for government procurement activities falling within the scope of these Articles. This derogation would apply to government procurement activities regarding artificial intelligence, automated decision-making and digital technologies to the extent such activities would otherwise be prohibited by these Articles.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans she has to publish a strategy on trade in digital services.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
HM Government aims to make the United Kingdom a global leader in digital services trade, with a network of international agreements that drive productivity, jobs and growth across the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom is already one of the world’s largest exporters of services, with remotely delivered services exports worth £207 billion in 2019. To build on this, we will use our independent trade policy to shape the future of global rules on digital trade. Bilaterally, we are looking for advanced digital services chapters in areas like data and digital in all of the trade negotiations we are currently engaged in.
Earlier this month, my Rt. Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade announced our intention to negotiate a ground-breaking Digital Economy Agreement with Singapore.