Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to her Answer of 26 February 2020 to Question 18647 on Trade Agreements: Negotiations, how many and which countries her Department has held preliminary trade talks with.

We have been talking with a range of partners to develop our trading arrangements.

Through the trade working groups established with the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, we have laid much of the groundwork to start negotiations for free trade agreements.

We are also continuing our programme to replicate the effects of existing EU trade agreements – by the time we left the EU, we had signed trade continuity agreements with 48 countries.

In addition, we engage with trading partners through our overseas network, discussions with embassies in London, ministerial discussions and visits, the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys, and HM Trade Commissioners. This includes with partners such as China, India and Brazil.