Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential economic impact of the UK-US trade deal on businesses in the North East.

The Prime Minister, Business Secretary and other Ministers across government have been engaging widely on the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal (EPD) with business organisations and companies from across the economy, including in the North East.

This deal protects jobs in the automotive, steel, aluminium, pharmaceutical and aerospace sectors - sectors that employ over 320,000 people across the UK and almost 26,000 people in the North East in particular. The EPD provides much needed certainty and confidence, which is crucial for supporting a robust UK supply chain in these industries