Category: Trade

The statement made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Secretary of State for International Trade, in the House of Commons on 24 March 2022.

The second round of UK-India free trade agreement negotiations began on 7 March and concluded on 17 March. A delegation of 44 Indian officials undertook technical talks in London. The negotiations, at official level, were conducted in a hybrid fashion, with some negotiators in our dedicated UK negotiations facility, and others attending virtually.

During this second round, talks focused on draft treaty text. Technical discussions were held across 26 policy areas over 60 separate sessions.

Both countries continue to share an ambition to secure a modern and comprehensive deal that would remove trade barriers and create new opportunities for business in the UK and India. The UK-India deal is a key opportunity to deepen our economic relationship with a dynamic and fast growing economy in the Indo-Pacific region.

This deal is part of a wider trading relationship with India. The 2030 Roadmap agreed last year sets the ambition of doubling trade with India by 2030 and provides a framework for the UK-India relationship that goes beyond the free trade agreement.

The third round of official level negotiations is due to take place in April 2022. We will focus on agreeing treaty architecture and seeking market access commitments to deliver benefit to UK consumers and businesses.

We remain clear that any deal the Government strikes must be in the best interests of the British people and the economy.

The Government will keep Parliament updated as these negotiations progress.

The statement made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Secretary of State for International Trade, in the House of Commons on 24 March 2022.

Today, the Department for International Trade is publishing a comprehensive set of documents setting out the UK’s strategic approach to an enhanced free trade agreement (FTA) between the UK and Canada. In line with our commitments to scrutiny and transparency, these documents have been published and placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

As a recently independent trading nation, the UK is now able to champion its own trade policy by securing agreements with new international partners, as well as by upgrading the terms of our existing continuity agreements to better suit the needs of UK businesses and the economy. We signed the UK-Canada trade continuity agreement (UK-CAN TCA) on 9 December 2020, which committed both parties to enter negotiations on a bespoke trade agreement by 1 April 2022. As such, negotiations will be launched today, 24 March 2022, with negotiations due to begin shortly afterwards. The negotiation objectives published today were informed by our call for input, which requested views from consumers, businesses, and other interested stakeholders on priorities for upgrading our agreement with Canada.

Canada is an important trading partner with a well-developed economy. Despite the slowdown to global trade in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, goods exports to Canada still increased by £478 million and Canada remained one of our top 20 trading partners (ranked 16th), with total trade in goods and services worth £19.2 billion.

UK exports enjoy an estimated £58 million less in duties under the UK-CAN TCA, relative to trading without one. An upgraded agreement can provide the opportunity to support further trade liberalisation and benefit businesses, including the 10,300 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) already exporting to Canada.

Enhancing the terms of our agreement with a historically connected partner like Canada can provide opportunities for businesses across the entire UK, support the UK’s transition to net zero and strengthen our vision for global Britain. We share a Head of State and work together across a range of bilateral and international initiatives including as members of the Five Eyes, G7, G20, NATO, and as signatories of the Paris climate agreement. These new negotiations are just another way in which our important partnership is delivering against all the priorities as set out in the UK’s integrated review. Further, these negotiations provide a valuable opportunity to pursue high ambition in areas of mutual interest including, championing, and supporting women’s economic empowerment through trade, updating our digital trade package, promoting innovation, and supporting our role as a global leader in climate action.

A bespoke trade agreement with Canada will also complement the UK’s accession to the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership (CPTPP), of which Canada is an influential member.

The Government are determined that any agreement must work for consumers, producers, investors, and businesses alike. We further remain committed to upholding our high environmental, labour, public health, food safety and animal welfare standards, alongside protecting the national health service (NHS).

HM Government are committed to transparency obligations, and we will continue to update and engage with key stakeholders as well as Parliament and the devolved Administrations throughout our negotiations with Canada.

The statement made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Secretary of State for International Trade, in the House of Commons on 25 February 2022.

I have today signed a ground-breaking digital trade agreement with Singapore.

The DEA represents the most ambitious package of provisions on digital trade we have agreed to date. It will serve as a model for such agreements in future, cementing the UK’s place as a world leader in digital trade.

The nature of digital trade and the digital economy means that the DEA is about far more than tech firms, valuable as the contribution they make to the UK economy undoubtedly is. Whether it is through opening digital markets, promoting the free flow of trusted data, or slashing red tape through overhauling outdated paper-based processes, digital trade has the potential to turbocharge UK exports and deliver benefits to businesses and consumers across the whole UK economy, from offices in Dundee to living rooms in Derbyshire and factory floors in Devon.

More detail will be set out in the explanatory memorandum that will accompany the laying of the text before Parliament, but key benefits of the deal include:

Supporting UK businesses to access Singapore’s digital markets. Digitally-delivered services made up around 70% of UK-Singapore services trade in 2019, and this deal will help grow our trade in this area.

Cutting red tape by supporting the overhaul of outdated, paper-based trading systems. For example, the agreement contains specific commitments around maintaining legal frameworks that enable the digitisation of trade documents.

Keeping our country and citizens safe through deepening our partnership with Singapore in areas such as cybersecurity, as well as promoting the importance of online consumer protection and personal data protection.

The DEA will also support our bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), joining Singapore and 10 other vibrant trading nations. Membership would mean access to a £8.4 trillion free trade area with some of the biggest and fastest- growing markets in the world.

Following signature of the agreement today, it will shortly be laid before Parliament, in line with usual practice, after which it will also be published online. I expect the agreement to come into force later this year once both the UK and Singapore have completed our respective domestic procedures.

The statement made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Secretary of State for International Trade, in the House of Commons on 27 January 2022.

The United Kingdom has today launched negotiations with the Government of Greenland on a continuity free trade agreement to reduce the costs of trading and to identify areas of strategic interest for future co-operation. While we introduced temporary measures to secure some continuity of trade with Greenland at the beginning of 2021, we never closed the door to securing a more permanent arrangement at an appropriate time.

These negotiations will seek to ensure that British firms can once again import popular products from Greenland tariff free. This will also support processing industries in Scotland, the north-east and north-west of England. As Greenland is the largest supplier of cold-water prawns in the world, as well as being a leading source of fish, these negotiations will help ensure the stability and resilience of British supply chains for consumers and the hospitality sector. The negotiations will also lay the groundwork for potentially tackling market access barriers for British businesses in Greenland in the longer term, including by liberalising professional business services trade, facilitating inward investment, and agreeing mutual recognition and double taxation arrangements. These discussions will therefore pave the way to potentially unlocking significant new opportunities for British exporters and investors looking to extend their presence across the Arctic.

Additionally, Greenland is an important partner in the Arctic—an increasingly important geopolitical area. These negotiations provide an opportunity to establish a dialogue through which to broaden our co-operation with Greenland on our priorities, such as climate change, science and research, and potentially the supply of critical minerals.

As the Arctic continues to grow in strategic importance, Greenland will be a key partner in ensuring a secure, stable, and sustainable future for the region.

In parallel, we expect the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to enter into negotiations with Greenland on our access to Greenlandic fishing waters.

This agreement will constitute Greenland’s first bilateral agreement with a third partner country, and we look forward to using this opportunity to solidify and strengthen our trading relationship in the future.

We will ensure Parliament is regularly updated on the progress of these negotiations.