Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many of the countries with whom agreements have not yet been secured to continue with current preferential trading arrangements beyond 31 December 2020 have to date refused to engage in negotiations with her Department.

We will always defend the British national interest, and will not agree deals if they are not right for our country, whatever the deadline. Whilst we have reached mutually beneficial agreements in most cases, we have been unable to do so with some.

As a result, we have confirmed that we do not expect to have agreements in place with Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, by 1^st January 2021. They are all valued partners on a range of issues so, if these countries wish to do a deal with us in 2021, they will find a willing partner in the United Kingdom.

The Rt Hon. Lady will know that British exports to these countries together represented 0.1% of our total exports in 2019 – and that much trade with these countries will be unaffected by not having a trade agreement. For example, the large majority of exports from Algeria are zero-tariff hydrocarbons.