Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she has made towards a free trade agreement with New Zealand.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government has completed four rounds of negotiations since the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations were launched last June. The fifth round of negotiations began on the 8th June.
Overall, negotiations have been positive, pragmatic and productive. The Government has made good progress and is now negotiating on all areas of the FTA.
The UK and New Zealand both remain eager to make further progress, with a view to working towards an agreement in the coming months.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of a free trade agreement with Australia on Crewe and Nantwich constituency.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Department’s economic analysis, published on 17 June 2020, seeks to identify the potential scale of the long-term additional benefit to the UK from having a deal with Australia. This analysis suggested the North West could be one of the regions expected to benefit most from a UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Clothing is one of the North West’s top goods exports to Australia, and this increased from 2019 to 2020. Liberalisation of tariffs on clothing (currently up to 5%) and reducing other non-tariff barriers to trade should further benefit this industry.
Likewise, another of the North West’s top exports to Australia, automotives, could also benefit from the removal of tariffs (currently up to 5% on road vehicles) and other non-tariff barriers to trade.
Following the conclusion of negotiations, a full impact assessment will be published prior to implementation.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to promote professional business services in free trade agreements.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK is a world leader in professional and business services. In 2019, the UK exported £63 billion of professional and business services (PBS), with a trade surplus of £34 billion.
To support the success of this important and diverse sector, the Department for International Trade is seeking ambitious commitments in its free trade agreements (FTAs) on cross-border trade in services, investment, mobility, and digital trade, which will reduce trade barriers, and provide certainty and transparency for UK professional and business service suppliers.
The Government is also using FTAs to foster regulatory dialogue and collaboration across all PBS sectors. This can help reduce administration and costs for UK professionals and firms seeking to supply services overseas.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she has made on securing a free trade agreement with Australia.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Australian Minister for Trade, Dan Tehan, visited the UK on 22nd – 23rd April to meet my Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade and me face-to-face, for the first time since his appointment in December. Over the course of two days of intensive discussions, the UK and Australia reached consensus on most elements of a comprehensive free trade agreement, including ambitious provisions on services, innovation and mobility. Australia is set to liberalise tariffs on UK goods, from sparkling wine, to cars, to pottery.
Both countries are confident that the remaining issues will be resolved, and are now working to agree the outstanding elements with the aim of reaching agreement in principle later this month.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she has made towards a free trade agreement with the US.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government has had five rounds of negotiations so far. 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.
The US is currently reviewing the progress made in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), so far, following the appointment of the United States Trade Representative, Katherine Tai. The Government has been engaging constructively on the way the FTA can align with both countries’ commitments to Building Back Better.
An ambitious UK-US FTA can support transatlantic collaboration rebuilding from Covid-19, promoting sustainable and clean growth and women’s economic empowerment, while setting global standards in digital trade and protecting intellectual property.