Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their strategy for future trade relations with the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth includes some of our closest friends and greatest allies. We share strong bonds and I hope the Noble Lord will welcome our commitment to work closely with Commonwealth countries to remove barriers and liberalise the global trading environment.

At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2018, chaired by the United Kingdom, we committed to boosting intra-Commonwealth trade beyond $2 trillion (approximately £1.5 trillion) by 2030. Commonwealth leaders also adopted the ‘Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda for Trade and Investment’ to enhance co-operation amongst ourselves.

In October 2019, my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade chaired the sixth Commonwealth Trade Ministers Meeting, which reaffirmed the Commonwealth’s support for free trade and the rules based multilateral trading system.

HM Government is also funding several projects including the Commonwealth Trade Facilitation Programme, the Commonwealth Standards Network and the SheTrades Commonwealth Programme, and continues to support increasing trade and investment between Commonwealth partner countries, taking advantage of the average cost of trade between us being 19% lower than the cost of trade outside the Commonwealth.