Live International Trade Questions House of Commons

Good morning and welcome to BBC Parliament's live coverage of the

House of commons. And around half past ten, eight Labour member will

be asking an urgent question underfunding of adding -- adult

social care. Others followed by a second urgent question from Adam

Greenwood who will ask a question about the closure of the offices of

job centre bus. Leader of the Commons and the Leadsom will answer

questions on forthcoming Parliamentary business, followed by

a general debate in the chamber on Brexit and International Trade.

Don't forget to join me Keith McDougal for a roundup of the day in

both Houses of Parliament at 11pm tonight. Before questions to the

trade Secretary, the Speaker will deal with an item of housekeeping.

James Duddridge. Question one, Mr Speaker. Secretary is a, Liam Fox.

With your permission I will answer questions one and seven together.

Ministerial colleagues and myself regularly engage with business

stakeholders and policymakers in Commonwealth partner countries. In

March my noble friend Lord price and I've met over 20 preserving trade

ministers at the inaugural trade ministers meeting in London, we

discussed strengthening collaboration and deepening intra-

Commonwealth trade and investment and we are preparing for the

Commonwealth summit in 2018. James Edrich. I thank the Secretary of

State for his answer. The Secretary of State refers to intra- African

trade, can be be even bolder and encourage a continental free-trade

deal, intra- Africa, not only with Commonwealth friends but beyond our

Commonwealth brands? We are sympathetic to the concept of an

African continental free-trade area. And we are in favour of a range of

initiatives to help foster wider, greater intra- Commonwealth trade.

There is a great deal to be gained from Commonwealth partners from

close Corporation and the government's aim including the

development agenda championed by my right honourable friend, the

Secretary of State, will help developing countries to be able to

trade their way out of poverty and it's an essential and key element of

that strategy. Chris Davis. Thank you. Britain and the Commonwealth

nations share a great history and over the years are performed many

great links across academia, sport, culture and other areas so if I ask

my right honourable friend, what steps is he taking to extend this

co-operation including a free-trade agreement so we add business and

commerce to the long list of Commonwealth cooperative endeavours.

As my honourable friend knows the Commonwealth itself is not a trading

bloc and contains a number of very spread economies but we are liaising

with a number of Commonwealth partners about a lateral agreements

with the future and my department is working with stakeholders to develop

initiatives that will stimulate UK and intra- Commonwealth trade and

investment in the lead up to and beyond, that very vital Commonwealth

summit next year. Thank you. The members on the Conservative benches

are desperate for the Secretary of State to give us more confidence

that we will increase trade in the Commonwealth. I think his voice not

to do so. Australia and Canada collectively amount to less than 5%

of our experts and research shows the most enduring statistic trade

house every time the distance between nations double. Isn't that

full party for us to be turning away from our closest trading partners

and relying on increasing trade with countries so very far away? This to

speaker I am sorry to hear that the lack of understanding of how the

modern economy works because in particular, in countries which have

a large proportion of their trade in services, services trade does not

depend upon distance and in fact, what we need to have is an

increasingly close Corporation with countries that are similar to us in

terms of their economic status, not necessarily geographically proximate

though I entirely understand that in terms of goods, the geographical

distance does have a greater bearing. Thank you, Mr Speaker. One

country for negotiations on trade had been very well advanced, either

discussions between the EU, is Canada and the Canadian trade deal.

Obviously the Minister will want to seek to replicate that fairly

quickly after exit from the EU but that has been subject to a huge

amount of disinformation regarding the costs and benefits of the deal.

When is the government actually going to take this issue on and set

the record straight? Mr Speaker, what we don't know at the present

time is what the state of the EU Canada agreement will be at the

point at which we exit the European Union. It may well be that all

countries have ratified but as he is well aware as a result of the

Singapore judgement, every single parliament and some regional

parliaments will have to ratify that he'll now. If the deal is not

ratified at the point we leave the EU and has only provisional

application that has no basis in UK law in which case we will have to

have a fallback position of either using that as the basis for a future

UK Canada agreement. Thank you. I think the potential for trade with

Commonwealth countries is exciting, growing economies. But every time I

open the paper and listen to the radio or TV the story is done very

negatively, almost like it's going to be impossible for us to do these

trade deals. Does he feel it's wrong and undermines the work he is doing?

Mr Speaker does appear that some elements of our media would rather

see Britain fail bouncy Brexit succeed. And I cannot recall a

single time in recent times than I have seen good economic news that

the BBC didn't describe as despite Brexit. Mr Barry Gardiner. The

honourable member has decided not to do so. Mr Ian Paisley. The agri-

food producers see Brexit as a wonderful new market for a range of

issues. Can I ask him to assure us that he is in talks with future

markets to encourage and secure our future at home? To underpin the

confidence in the agricultural sector they need to know there are

increasing market out there and one of the key roles of the government

is help the agricultural to have that confidence which it requires

for investment and that is to show we can help them into markets. It's

worth pointing out according to the EU Commission website 90% of global

growth in the next ten news will be outside the European Union, those

are the markets we have to help British business get into. Geoffrey

Clifton Brown. Number two, Mr Speaker. The Department for

International trade provides market access to UK businesses in the UK

and 109 countries overseas. Through the great campaign we build a global

appetite for British goods and services and give UK companies

access to millions of pounds worth of potential business through

digital services offered. I thank my honourable friend. It's a great

tribute to his department that in its first year of operation ONS

reports experts -- exports are up by 7%. Does he agree with this increase

in demand for British exports, UK Export Finance with its wide and

roll has an important part to play in that? My honourable friend is

absolutely right to raise this and can I thank him for the work he does

in the old party Parliamentary group for trade and investment but he's

right. We need to provide a suite of services and that includes UK Export

Finance. It's worth bearing in mind 7000 businesses have been helped by

UK Export Finance, the appetite for risk is doubled and we can now

increase the number of currencies we can use from ten until 40. This is

part of a wide bee happen successful so far. Mr Speaker, this front bench

team must know that a silly attack on the BBC cannot be used as an

excuse for policy. This is a Secretary of State, Mr Speaker, who

has refused to meet the party Manufacturing group but can I tell

him from the manufacturers I know, have no confidence in the Secretary

of State, he is living in cloud cuckoo land, or think he's not

confident and they want his resignation! Either take note of his

comments. Doctor Julian Lewis. Can the Minister explained for steps the

government is taking to ensure that following our departure from the

European Union are export manufacturing businesses don't face

high tariffs from other nations? Well, the Department of

International trade is embarking on a series of talks both from the

World Trade Organisation to individual countries in order to

first of all secure that we have continuity of business with those

countries we already have agreements with. I speak as a remain vote on

the campaign site but this is a fantastic opportunity for us to be

able to forge new trade deals going forward and take advantage of

opportunities Brexit presents. Thank you. For many British businesses to

grow their International Trade they need to be able to call on the best

possible members of staff. What is the Minister going to do to ensure

freedom of movement for those businesses is retained and what is

he going to do to ensure that investment they get through

initiatives such as Horizon 2020 is still available to them? It's always

been the case the government has had an open policy, eight mature policy

for those people who come from outside the EU are concerned and it

is the case Britain will be open to the best and brightest in the world

who want a common work frankly in one of the best places you can

enlarge those skills. Mr Lawrence Robinson. Number three, Mr Speaker.

Vista Speaker, Brazil is the UK's largest export market in Latin

America representing significant opportunities for the UK. My right

honourable friend the Secretary of State attended the UK joint economic

and trade committee last December and as I saw for myself in March, in

places like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo, both governments are admitted

to deepening UK Trade Investment. Officials continued to work together

on proposals for reducing trade barriers for discussion at the next

joint committee. I thank the Minister for that response and

congratulate him on that work. I was in Brazil last November and have had

many meetings with his Excellency the Brazilian ambassador to London

and while they've not been able to achieve a trade deal with the

European Union they very much look forward to working with the UK. Can

he expedite such arrangements as quickly as possible? Mr Speaker I

congratulate my honourable friend for his work in the last parliament

on Brazil. I think he makes a very good point. That is this, you don't

need to have a free-trade agreement to have free trade. Indeed the EU

itself as I'm sure my honourable friend knows, has no FTA with the

world's largest markets like the US, China, India and in the Brazil. A

lot of trade barriers that we can address without having a formal

free-trade agreement and this is very much our approach in Brazil as

seen by our joint committee talks on my own visit in March.

The Minister will be aware that the barriers to trade are not simply

those that would be covered in the trade deal, it is the unfamiliarity

with local customs etc. If we are to encourage small and medium-sized

enterprises to export, what practical facilities can be given to

open up markets like Brazil, potentially enormous, but at the

moment very difficult for the SMEs to access. I sank his question and

welcome him back to his place, I have fond memories of working

closely with him in previous departments on trade and other

issues. I would say two things, he is quite right that the removal of

nontariff barriers, the grit in the system, is one of the key parts of

our department, and he is quite right to emphasise that, that it is

not just about free trade agreements in the future, it is about removing

practical barriers, which is why my right honourable friend have those

talks back in December. In terms of supporting SMEs, the Government

portal is very good, there is very good access to Brazilian deals that

are coming up, and I would urge all SMEs to go to that or portal to be

able to access that. The Minister could have pointed out that a trade

agreement could only take brace with Merga saw because Brazil is part of

that block, but should a UK agreement take place prior to our

leaving the EU, it would become one of the agreements the EU currently

has with some 50 countries. How does the Secretary of State opposed to

carry out his manifesto commitment to replicate all of those existing

agreements after Brexit, and, and what does he propose to implement

about end? A lot of these matters will form part of the trade bill

which will be during this session, as you well know. The most important

thing is that we seek a smooth and orderly exit from the European

Union, that we seek to replicate all of those FTAs, and provide stability

as we seek to access existing and future markets. With your

permission, I will answer questions four, nine at ten together. The food

and drink sector makes an important contribution to export. In 2016, UK

food and treat exports reached 20.1 billion, an increase of 9% on the

previous year. This represents some 6.6% of our total goods exports. For

the first quarter of this year, they reached 4.9 billion, up 8.6% on the

previous year. The Speaker: I gently say to the

Minister that the grouping is one of numbers ten and 12. There was a

question that was withdrawn, and the briefing may not have kept up with

the evolution of events. The honourable member for Huddersfield

doesn't seem easily satisfied this morning, but that will have to do. I

know my noble friend understands the food and drinks sector's importance

to the south-west, so can I ask what he is don't promote growth and trade

the south-west? The answer is exemplified the type of tailored

help the Department of International trade can give. Working with our

officials in the south-west of local producers and businesses, we have

created the great British food row grab, which is designed -- food

programme more which is designed specifically to allow us to work

with overseas buyers, and Saint April 2016 we have won over ?19

million of business across more than 30 areas. Food and drink

manufacturing is an enormous market particular to my Bury St Edmunds

constituency. Issues overregulation, sampling and tariffs are of concern

to exporters. Would he agree to meet with me and them to discuss these

issues further? My honourable friend has had a number of meetings of such

and she brought down her local chamber of, is, but she is

absolutely right. Regulation and tariffs are unimportant part of

trade deals, and it is important that we maintain the standards

ourselves, that it is the job of the Department of International trade to

interact with those people who need help at any level, and I would be

very happy to come to her constituency and meet with her and

any businesses. Lincolnshire has a proud tradition of producing food,

and the food and drink industry is very important to my constituents.

Can I ask him what he is doing to help the food and drink

manufacturers in Lincolnshire with that exporting, please. Again, the

Department of International trade is across the whole of the country, and

when it comes to specific areas, we look at specific needs. We a look at

a trade fair in Cologne as being a leading example of this, and I hope

that her constituents can take their goods to that fair. There are

concerns over the increase of import costs, increase in production costs

and concerns over Labour, and for us all, concerns over the environment,

so can the Minister tells the food Manufacturing sector what new

opportunities he has secured for the tractor to trade, and also the value

of that to the economy. The value to the, near the food, -- of the

economy of the food and tank manufacturing sector is known. We

have seen the trade figures are up some 7%, and we can certainly give a

breakdown of the actual data. But without a shadow of a doubt, the

Department of International Trade is good at what it does, we have seen

an increase across all sectors, and record numbers. Why have the

Government done nothing to stop Nestle from moving production from

the United Kingdom to Poland with the loss of 300 jobs? The Government

confirmed this week in a written answer that Ministers met Nestle in

April, and Nestle say it would take an investment of ?1 million to save

production in the UK. ?1 billion to save one job in Downing Street, but

they can't find ?1 million to save 300 here. Unbelievable. There are a

number of issues. The Member for York Central has been working hard

on behalf of her constituents in trying to stem the redundancies at

Nestle, as indeed has the Department of Work and Pensions which is put in

the rapid response service. I am happy to meet them again. Scottish

food and drink exports have doubled since the SNP Government came to

power in 2007, and this has been key in the development of the Scottish

economy. What does the Secretary of State think about Michel Barnier's

comments that these trades are not possible outside the customs union.

Will he consider an interim agreement? The Scottish, the total

value of Scottish exports are some ?62 billion a year, of which 50

billion is exported to the rest of the United Kingdom. I think that is

as good a statement as to why Scotland should remain within the

union of the United Kingdom rather than the European Union. More than

80% of the fish caught around our coast and 30% of our love is

exported to the rest of the EU, yet under these rules that produce would

face high tariffs. What guarantees can he give that our fishermen and

farmers will not face tariffs if we leave the European Union? This is

all part of the ongoing negotiations with the European Union and we will

hopefully reach this at the end of March 20 19. It is absolutely the

case that the United Kingdom Government is very keen to secure a

deal with the European Union sees no change whatsoever to businesses. We

want to have as smooth the transition into independence from

the European Union as we can, and the interest of fishermen in the

south-west is incredibly important, as is everybody else. Millions of

pounds of fish were sold through Brixham fish market last year, the

most valuable catch in the south of England. Will he meet with me to

discuss the opportunities of spending the markets after we leave

the European Union and also the issues around frictionless trade and

smooth transfer across the border? The Secretary of State as a member

of Parliament for the south-west is very welcome to come and meet, so

you may get twice as many meetings as you are anticipating, but we look

forward to coming to help! The Speaker: Order, Topical

Questions. Promoting goods and services over overseas, and

benefiting our citizens across the whole of the UK, and to that end, I

was delighted to welcome our new permanent secretary and the

announcement of Crawford Faulkner as our new chief trade negotiation

adviser. Both bring excellence and expertise to the Department at this

crucial time. Fisheries and agriculture, the environment and

transport are all key competencies of the National Assembly which could

be affected by a future trade deal. With the Minister concede that the

National Assembly must have the powers to end all is or reject any

trade deal would would affect so profoundly it's basic duties? We

have made it very clear all along that we intend to have maximal

consultation and collaboration in this area, but to emphasise the

point, in our manifesto we set out plans to create a new board of trade

which will ensure that new trade and investment across the United Kingdom

is equally spread as far as we can across all parts of the United

Kingdom, the devolved administrations as well as the

English regions. As well as an economic opportunity, there is a

moral opportunity with trade in the developing world. Could the

Secretary of State please tell the House what steps he is taking to

support trade with developing countries? First of all we have made

it very clear that post Brexit we will continue with duty-free access

for the least developing countries, but we do need to look to see

whether we can go further than that and whether we can actually reduce

some of the burdens, particularly as we leave the customs union and are

outside the common external tariff in a way in which we can stop the

distortions on value added, which diminish the chance of investment in

some of those developing countries. In his recent talks in the United

States, did the Secretary of State discuss President Trump's initiation

of a section 232 investigation into the effects of steel imports on

their national security? What concerns does he have for the impact

such a protectionist ruling might have on the UK's steel sector, and

jobs in our steel industry due to lost exports and trade deflection of

dumped goods on our markets? Mr Speaker, we are all concerned about

the overproduction of steel, largely coming from China. And what we have

seen is possibly an acceptable subsidies into that sector. But

anyway in which that is going to be addressed needs to be done in a way

that is compliant with the ability of rules -based system, and I raised

the issue with Secretary Ross, and with the trade wrap on the impact it

could have on the United Kingdom, and I think it's fair to say that

our views were landed. We now await the publication of the report, which

has up to 90 days for the president to act upon it. My area is full of

excellent small business owners looking to trade with the rest of

the world. Many are concerned that the UK looks to make trade deals

that will be focused on big rather than small businesses. What can

assurances can my honourable friend give to small businesses? My

honourable friend makes an extremely small point. Over 99% of businesses

in this country in the non-financial business economy are SMEs. Last year

we helped over 1200 Welsh companies, most of which were SMEs. We make

sure on a regular basis that we have SME focused round tables, and they

can always access our portal, great .gov .uk which can help them to

improve their exports. Why is he happy for that UK to trade under WTO

rules rather than the European Union, when the WTO is more

unaccountable and undemocratic? The two things are not analogy is. We

operate with the WTO because we believe there needs to be a rules

-based system for global trade, and if the WTO didn't exist, we would

have to invent it today. The Yeovil constituency has one of the largest

export clusters in the south-west, and at its focused on the rest of

the world as much as it is on the EU. What assurances can he give me

that we will focus on doing global trade deals with not just the EU? My

honourable friend makes a very valid point, but it is not just about

exports, it is also about inward investment, and so I can bring as

up-to-date that at 9:30am we published figures that show a

record-breaking number of foreign direct investment projects came into

the UK in 2016/17, 2206 D5, and that safeguarding thousands of jobs. No

doubt the usual subjects will describe it as despite Brexit.

Kerry McCarthy. I thank the ministers or the written answers

they have given me, they are keen to assure me that existing animal

welfare and environmental standards with a maintained but can they give

me for the reassurance that we will address with Japan Marshall wailing

and the illegal timber trade? We engage with these issues on an

ongoing basis with Japan but can assure -- assure the honourable lady

that the government shares a lot of her concerns to protect animal

welfare in free-trade agreements. The UK has one of the very best

scores on the world animal protection index, in the top four

and it's important we maintain animal welfare standards in this

country and I have every confidence that we will in future agreements.

Ten and a half thousand UK businesses export to Canada, quarter

of a million jobs in the UK rely on trade with Canada and we are likely

to be one of the biggest winners from the EU Canada trade trade to

but it isn't perfect so far to be going to do post Brexit to ensure we

do even better in our trading relationship with Canada? As to

Speaker I think it's a very appropriate question in this week of

the 150th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation. My

honourable friend will know only too well the UK exported more than 7

billion worth of goods and services to Canada in 2050 we have five

offices throughout Canada, we remain strongly supportive of Sita but we

will look to have a future agreement with Canada at an appropriate time.

Emma Little Pengelly. You will be aware that there are very particular

opportunities but also some challenges for each of the double

regions across the United Kingdom in the next number of years in

particular. Can you are applying fight plans you have what intentions

you have to fully integrate the interests of the devolved regions

within your strategy and would you commit to an early meeting of

delegations from the devolved regions to outline your engagement

moving forward? It's a great pleasure to welcome the honourable

lady to the chamber again and she's already a prodigious and assiduous

contributor. But she mustn't if I break politely asocial, she mustn't

inherently bad traitor who are noble friend the Member for Strangford,

repairing to the Minister as you, the word used in this chamber refers

to the chair and I have no plans to adopt any policies on these matters!

She should refer to the Minister. I am still trying to train the

honourable gentleman the Member for Strangford, I think his

apprenticeship at some distance to travel excavation work Secretary of

State. The phrase tricks and all dogs definitely comes to mind are

not one. Can I say to the honourable lady, she makes a very good point,

there are challenges but also great opportunities and it is essential

that we look at trade and investment programmes across the United

Kingdom. As I said in answer to an earlier question it's why we bring

in the new board of trade to help ensure we have that balance but I

can tell her in the figures we announced to date Northern Ireland

secured 34 new projects totalling 1122 new jobs, a big game, the sort

of programme we want to encourage to ensure investment goes to all parts

of the United Kingdom, ensuring we create an economy that works for

everyone. Mr Peter Bone. Thank you. You will be delighted to learn that

the British high manufacturers export millions of pounds. Could the

Secretary of State suggest how this has could help promote the wearing

of ties to increase exports? Mr Speaker, I have to say I didn't

check with my fellow ministers before I came to answer this

question but I suggest we can lead by example and I can say this was

made in England! I can't claim mine was, I'm not sure! But I'm sure if

they are so popular it will be necessary to compel people to wear

them! Very good. We shall move on, questions to the Minister or women

and the qualities. Mr Kristian Matheson. Question one, sir. The

Minister for women. Minister Justine Greening. Thank you, Mr Speaker you

and with your permission I will greet the answer to this question

was question it. The UK has a proud record of promoting equality and we

have some laws