Asked by: Jane Dodds (Liberal Democrat - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the Atomic Energy Community published on 19 October 2019 on UK trade.
Answered by Conor Burns
The new Brexit deal that the Government has agreed with the EU provides the basis of a new relationship with the EU based on free trade and friendly cooperation. We have agreed with the EU in the Political Declaration to seek an "ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership across trade and economic cooperation with a comprehensive and balanced Free Trade Agreement (FTA) at its core.
Once Parliament has agreed this deal, we are looking forward to working with our partners in the EU to negotiate the details of that FTA. Ahead of that negotiation, it is not the appropriate time to publish a speculative analysis of what the outcome of those negotiations might be.
But once we leave the EU, we will be able to pursue an independent trade policy, with the opportunity to strike trade deals all around the world.