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Question
What benefits will this UK-Japan deal produce over the EU-Japan deal in terms of trade and GDP? What specific impact will it have on agricultural products if the EU reaches its tariff quota limit, and how does that compare to the EU-Japan deal?
Minister reply
While providing some details about the economic benefits of the UK-Japan agreement, the Minister did not specify exact figures in her statement. She committed to issuing a final treaty text and conducting an independent impact assessment for scrutiny by Parliament.
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Question
How does the treatment of Stilton cheese differ under this agreement compared to the EU-Japan deal? What are the provisions on government subsidies?
Minister reply
The Minister did not provide specific details during her statement regarding the unique benefits for Stilton cheese or the precise provisions on government subsidies. However, she committed to publishing a full treaty text and an impact assessment before bringing the agreement back for debate in Parliament.
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Question
What are the provisions related to public procurement in this agreement?
Minister reply
The Minister did not specify details on public procurement during her statement but committed to ensuring full scrutiny of the deal through the publication of treaty text and impact assessment before a parliamentary debate.
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Question
Will Parliament have the right to vote on this agreement, similar to how it is handled in Japan?
Minister reply
The Minister committed to bringing the deal back for a debate and vote once all relevant documents are published for scrutiny.
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Question
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement and congratulate her on reaching this agreement. It is a much-needed relief for all those UK companies that would have seen their trade with Japan revert to World Trade Organisation terms if the agreement had not been reached by the end of the year. I hope that the Secretary of State can answer some initial questions today, including: what benefits this agreement will produce for UK trade and GDP over and above the forecast benefits of simply rolling over the existing EU-Japan deal; what benefits the farming sector will derive from this deal if the EU reaches its tariff rate quota limit for agricultural products; and what the impact of Friday’s agreement will be on the UK aerospace sector relative to the impact of the EU-Japan deal.
Minister reply
The deal we have secured goes significantly beyond the EU-Japan deal in areas that are important to the United Kingdom. For example, the data and digital chapter in some cases goes beyond the CPTPP and sets new precedents for a high-quality deal. On business mobility, financial services, geographical indicators and rules of origin, there are advances in all parts of the negotiation that benefit all parts of the UK and all parts of business. The impact assessment shows a £15 billion increase in trade under this deal. We have secured full liberalisation of beef and pork products under this agreement, which is a tremendous boost for British farmers. There is a limited number of areas where there are tariff rate quotas, but we have fought hard to ensure that British exporters continue to get the benefit of exports into the Japanese market at lower tariff rates, including but not limited to Stilton.
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Question
I congratulate the Secretary of State on this heroic and historic new trade deal, and on proving the doubters wrong yet again. Under the EU-Japan deal, there were just seven geographical indicators. Under this new agreement, she has managed to potentially secure another 70, including west country lamb and west country beef. Can she outline how the new deal will benefit beef, lamb and dairy farmers in my constituency?
Minister reply
I thank my hon. Friend for his question. Dairy products such as cheddar from Davidstow will go down to a zero tariff over time as a result of the agreement. We are protecting new product names, whether it is Cornish pasties or clotted cream. We will also see reductions in tariffs for fantastic products such as beef and lamb.
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Question
I congratulate the Secretary of State. I recognise that, although this deal shares many similarities with the EU deal, it goes slightly further in a limited number of areas, not least the geographic indicators. On the issue of cheese, UK manufacturers can only fulfil unused EU quotas; however, even if all goes according to plan, GDP terms will be worth less than one tenth of 1% of UK GDP. The Secretary of State’s intention to breach international law undermines trust and could impact our ability to join CPTPP.
Minister reply
The deal with Japan is important economically in itself and for accession to TPP, a trade area worth £110 billion. We secured strong agreement from the Japanese to help us accede to TPP. The deal includes protections for Scotch whisky, reductions in tariffs on cheese over time, and benefits for Scottish lamb and beef farmers.
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Question
I congratulate my right hon. Friend on achieving this agreement. Free trade is key to prosperity for all constituencies, particularly important for mine with the largest port in the country at Immingham. Will she outline how she will continue with that agreement and move forward with agreements with countries such as Australia?
Minister reply
We are preparing our accession plans and hope to formally apply early next year so we can make progress on acceding to CPTPP, which gives British exporters access to the fast-growing Pacific market.
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Question
First, the Secretary of State made very welcome mention indeed of Stornoway black pudding. However, the GDP figures show it is worth a seventieth of the deal with the EU—a seventieth of the cost of Brexit—so is getting a deal with the EU not 70 times more important than this UK-Japan comprehensive economic partnership agreement?
Minister reply
The hon. Gentleman’s welcoming the increased protection for Stornoway black pudding in the Japan market. The deal also includes benefits for Scottish lamb and beef farmers in terms of reduction in their tariffs. The EU must give us a deal in the way it has given Canada.
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Question
Once the details of this trade deal are published, the Japanese Parliament will get the opportunity to debate and vote on it. Will the Secretary of State be clear about whether parliamentarians in both Houses of this Parliament will get the same rights as our Japanese colleagues?
Minister reply
The fully legally scrubbed deal will go to the International Trade Committee for analysis. Independent analysis will also be undertaken on environmental, social and animal welfare standards impact. The deal will then be debated by Parliament and through the CRaG process it can block the deal if not happy.
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Question
From what I have seen of the deal so far, it is a great deal and the Secretary of State is to be congratulated on securing it. However, will my right hon. Friend acknowledge—preferably in the Trade Bill—that post Brexit, the UK needs a modern, relevant, fair and workable scrutiny regime for new FTAs?
Minister reply
The deal will go to both Parliaments at the same time—it will go to the Japanese Diet as well as this House. Under CRaG process Parliament can block the deal if not happy.
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Question
I note what the Secretary of State said about impact assessments, but what discussions has she had with the Office for Budget Responsibility about whether it will produce a forecast of the impact of the deal?
Minister reply
The hon. Lady highlighted a hypothetical situation; we are now in a world where we have left the EU. We need to talk about the benefits of signing the deal versus not signing it.
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Question
I warmly welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement and congratulate her on this agreement, which is really good news. Can she explain how small and medium-sized enterprises will benefit from this excellent deal?
Minister reply
The deal with Japan has a dedicated SME chapter that reduces red tape for SMEs, makes it easier to understand each other's markets, and provides information to make exporting easier.
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Question
I thank the Secretary of State for prior sight of her statement. Yes, we also welcome the trade deal but I have two serious concerns. First, it seems to simply mirror what we have with the EU, and secondly, given that the deal has stricter state aid regulations than the disputed ones in the EU proposals, do the Government actually have a trade strategy?
Minister reply
I urge the hon. Lady to look beyond the EU—90% of global growth is coming from beyond the EU. Japan and the wider Pacific region are vital for Britain’s future economy.
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Question
I, too, congratulate my right hon. Friend on this trade deal. Can she say a little more about how the south-east will benefit from this? It is not just financial services there. She will be aware that the increase in both exports and imports over recent years has been in road transport.
Minister reply
We have achieved improvements in areas such as transportation services as well as financial services in the trade deal, making it easier for business people to travel between Japan and the UK.
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Question
I of course congratulate the Secretary of State on any trade deal, but she has done a deal with Japan, which represents 2% of our trade, in a week when we have probably lost the 15.5% deal we might have had with the United States. On the day when a Japanese company, SoftBank, has sold off one of the jewels in the crown of British technology, is it not shameful that she could not bring herself to mention Arm from Cambridge?
Minister reply
That was a typically upbeat question from the hon. Gentleman. It is not true that our deal with the US is not progressing; we are currently discussing market access terms.
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Question
I congratulate the Secretary of State on securing this deal. I am delighted, as the people of Cornwall will be, that the iconic Cornish pasty and Cornish clotted cream are to be protected, along with many other geographically protected British products. Can she say what further opportunities there will be for Cornish producers to export to Japan as a result of this deal?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend is right: a number of products in Cornwall—whether the Cornish pasty, west country farmhouse cheddar or clotted cream—will benefit from this deal through not only lower tariffs but increased recognition of their geographic indicators. I will be in Cornwall later this week, and I hope to talk to producers about how we can increase their exports and take advantage of these new opportunities.
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Question
I find it absurd that the House is being asked to debate a text that has not been published, because with trade deals, the devil is in the detail. I want to pick up on the point about state aid provisions, because I am curious about this. In today’s Financial Times, it is reported that the UK and Japan have agreed to replicate the restrictions on subsidies in the EU-Japan deal that went into effect last year. I was involved in that in Brussels, in a previous incarnation, and it goes far beyond what the UK is looking for in the UK-EU trade deal. I listened carefully to the Secretary of State’s response, and she said that it is a “standard” state aid clause, which strikes me as bizarre language, because there are no standard state aid clauses in any trade deals ever anywhere. Has she made the commitment reported in the Financial Times? Will she stand by it, will she resile from it in six months’ time in a limited way or has she dropped the ball?
Minister reply
I find it extraordinary, when I am appearing in front of the House to update it, for the hon. Gentleman to complain that I have not given the next update. I am here because, every stage that we agree with the Japanese, I want to share it with the House and have that debate. Of course there will be another debate when we have produced the final text, which he will be able to participate in. Many FTAs have subsidy clauses, but no FTA, apart from the one that the EU is demanding of us, has one bloc imposing its subsidy regime on another country.
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Question
By now, the whole House will know of my love of the autonomous delivery robots in Milton Keynes. I am assured that they can deliver geographically protected goods such as Stilton and pork pies, but they are also part of the UK’s larger tech industry. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on how our tech businesses will be helped by the data and digital parts of the deal?
Minister reply
The deal will, in essence, underwrite digital and data flows between the UK and Japan, so there will be no requirements such as data localisation and we will uphold the principles of net neutrality and enable the free flow of data. It will mean that brilliant companies, such as those in my hon. Friend’s constituency, will be able to sell their products into Japan without hinderance.
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Question
Further to the question from the hon. Member for Stirling (Alyn Smith), if the FT article is correct, the Government have, in this deal, signed up to more restrictive conditions on state aid than those being negotiated with the European Union. Will the Secretary of State confirm that the negotiations with the EU are all about deterring it from reaching a deal so that it will walk away, and we can then blame it for no deal and not take the hit that would otherwise be aimed at the Government?
Minister reply
I am not quite clear what the hon. Gentleman’s question was—it seemed to be more of an accusation—but, as I have said, the subsidy clauses in the deal are standard FTA clauses. They are nothing like what the EU is demanding of us.
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Question
Last year, 277 Welsh businesses exported to Japan. Does the Secretary of State agree that the new tariff reduction in beef represents an exciting opportunity for farmers such as Brian Bown, who is chairman of my local National Farmers Union and is at a cattle auction this afternoon, and Gerald Thomas, who is president of the Farmers’ Union of Wales?
Minister reply
British beef and lamb were let back into the Japanese market in 2019. In this deal, we have achieved significant tariff reductions on beef and more protection of geographic indicators such as Welsh lamb and, of course, Ynys Môn sea salt from my hon. Friend’s constituency.
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Question
I congratulate my right hon. Friend on securing this free trade agreement with Japan. Will she outline the benefits that she sees it bringing to the economy of north-east Wales?
Minister reply
There are huge benefits to the economy of north-east Wales, whether in digital and data, agriculture such as Welsh lamb, or areas such as manufacturing, where we have reduced the cost of bringing in car parts and agreed closer regulatory co-operation between Japan and the UK.
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Question
I would have thought it was impossible to put a line through me, but that is by the bye. First, I thank the Secretary of State for all that she is doing. Her eagerness to get trade deals the world over is infectious and should encourage everyone in the House. It is an indication of the fact that the global market is anxious to get started with the UK as a trading partner. I note that there are set to be strong tariff reductions for UK pork and beef exports, with low tariffs for food and drink, and more generous quotas for malt than in the EU-Japan deal. Will the Secretary of State confirm how that will translate for malt for my local whisky producer, Echlinville Distillery in Kircubbin, and for Bushmills whiskey as well? How will it translate for the Northern Ireland pork and beef industries, which provide the best pork and beef in the world—we have that in Northern Ireland and in my constituency? Can we expect an increase in the market for exports to Japan?
Minister reply
We absolutely can expect an increase. As I said, British beef has only just been allowed back into the Japanese market, and we are now going to see significant tariff reductions. Northern Ireland is, of course, a strong exporter of such products, and it will also benefit from the increased protection of geographic indicators, whether for the Armagh Bramley apple or the Lough Neagh eel.
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Question
The Secretary of State mentioned Nissan; of course, there is an intrinsic link from Nissan to UK steel, which is intrinsically linked into the talks with the United States. Will she guarantee that President Trump’s completely unrealistic and unreasonable section 232 tariffs on UK steel will be removed from the trade negotiations with the United States as a precondition for those negotiations to proceed?
Minister reply
We are in active negotiations with the United States, and one of the things I have been very clear about is that we need to see those unfair section 232 tariffs on our steel removed.
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Question
We are very excited in Grimsby about this trade deal, because we feel it will create a huge benefit for our family-owned fish processors, particularly those for flat fish, and for our fish smokehouses of Alfred Enderby. How will this help to improve fisheries?
Minister reply
There are two benefits for fisheries from this deal. First, we are going to see a reduction in tariffs on all kinds of fish, be it mackerel, cod or salmon. And my hon. Friend will be pleased to hear that traditional Grimsby smoked fish is one of the geographical indicators we are going to replicating in Japan.
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Question
How long will it be until the UK Government realise that this Japan deal is not as good as is being touted, and then U-turn and renege on it? Should my constituents take the Secretary of State’s word that they will not do so?
Minister reply
We have already made significant progress, achieving agreement in principle; we are working on the legal scrubbing, and I will bringing this back to Parliament very soon.
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Question
I warmly congratulate my right hon. Friend and her ministerial team on securing this deal in such quick order. Wales has a long history of attracting inward investment from Japan, with the first foreign direct investment project from Sony coming to Bridgend back in 1973. However, will she guarantee that the finest lamb in the world—Welsh lamb—will have its geographical indicator protected, so that we can continue our deep trading relationship with Japan?
Minister reply
My right hon. Friend is right about the investment in both countries. This deal seeks to deepen that economic relationship, in services, in manufacturing and, of course, in agriculture. I am delighted to say that Welsh lamb is on the list of geographical indicators that should be recognised by Japan.
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Question
The north-east has benefited significantly from Japanese investment, so I welcome the continuation of existing trading relationships, which this deal largely represents. However, the Secretary of State will know that for Nissan and for investors more generally, and for jobs in the north-east, the deal that matters is the “oven-ready” one with the European Union. Will she set out precisely what the differences are between the state aid provisions in this Japanese deal and those rejected in the EU deal, apart from the fact that the latter are already in place?
Minister reply
I have recently visited Hitachi and Nissan, both of which are pleased with the progress we have made in the Japan deal. Of course, like all of us, they want a deal with the EU, but it has to be the right deal for Britain. My lesson, as Trade Secretary, is that we have to be prepared to hold out for the right deal.
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Question
May I join others in congratulating my right hon. Friend on securing such an important deal? I hope she goes on to secure future deals for Britain. May I also encourage her to ensure that this new opportunity is considered in the integrated review, because our economic security and our national security go hand in hand?
Minister reply
My right hon. Friend is right on that, and one important aspect of this deal and our relationship with Japan is that it is a leading free enterprise democracy. We need to be working with like-minded countries, not only to protect free trade across the world, but to make sure trade is fair. That is one of the huge benefits of joining CPTPP: it is a high standards trade agreement of countries that believe in free trade.
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Question
Welcomes progress made in relation to geographically protected indicators from the northern isles, but raises concerns over David Frost's comments regarding level-playing field issues. Asks for a commitment to publishing state aid clauses.
Minister reply
Pleased with the new listings of Orkney beef, lamb, and cheddar; does not think it necessary to publish state aid clauses as EU is asking for its own regime to be put into UK law.
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Question
Welcomes the agreement on disciplines against anti-competitive market distortions and subsidies. Asks if a similar regime can be offered to the EU.
Minister reply
Committed to fair behaviour, but EU's demands are beyond standard FTA clauses.
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Question
Questions the significance of trade with Japan compared to the Netherlands and other EU countries. Asks if there is concern about lack of free trade agreements with those regions.
Minister reply
Emphasises future growth opportunities outside the EU, noting that lower tariffs will make exporting easier for UK businesses.
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Question
Congratulates on the deal with Japan and encourages more active participation in CPTPP. Asks to bring Japanese into six eyes.
Minister reply
Passes call to Defence Secretary; highlights importance of TPP for economic opportunity and fair trade.
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Question
Calculates it will take 71 deals like this to make up for losses due to leaving EU single market and customs union.
Minister reply
Clarifies that the debate is about Japan deal, not EU referendum.
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Question
Inquires if west midlands businesses will benefit from £15 billion boost despite protests of 'doomsters'.
Minister reply
Confirms deal surpasses previous expectations; exports to Japan will be cheaper, leading to job creation.
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Question
Asks for commitment on climate impacts in the impact assessment.
Minister reply
Agrees strong climate change commitments are part of the agreement.
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Question
Congratulates and asks for details on how deal will facilitate business movement between UK and Japan.
Minister reply
Details broader access for professional people, including family visits, under the agreement.
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Question
Inquires about role of Scottish Parliament in inputting into deal negotiations.
Minister reply
Acknowledges close involvement with Scottish Government; Trade Minister spoke to counterpart early that day.
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Question
Asks for further elucidation on how the agreement will benefit Stilton producers and other cheese makers across UK.
Minister reply
Details tariff reductions for all types of cheese, ensuring wider access to Japanese market.
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Question
Welcomes deal but expresses concern over Welsh lamb exports; asks for commitment on securing a good EU deal.
Minister reply
Acknowledges Lord Frost's efforts; highlights potential US market benefits.
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Question
Asks about work with local stakeholders in Black Country to ensure businesses can take advantage of opportunities presented by the deal.
Minister reply
Minister for Trade Policy had a webinar with Black Country businesses; encourages more business involvement.
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Question
Asks if Japanese car exports from Britain into EU will increase or decrease as result of deal and expected EU deal.
Minister reply
Praises Thatcher's efforts in attracting Japanese companies; Nissan supports UK due to extra benefits.
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Question
Agrees this is an excellent deal for the UK, offering great possibilities for all regions and nations of the Union.
Minister reply
Agrees it offers opportunities for levelling up across country, ensuring growth and jobs in local areas.