Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

UK Trade with the EU

Thursday 21 October 2021 · 4 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Covid has negatively impacted global supply chains and trade in goods and services.
  • UK trade in goods with the EU has been increasing this year and is above 2020 levels.
  • The UK can now focus on trade with the rest of the world as well as the EU.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Alex Cunningham Lab
Economy Brexit Business & Trade
Context

The MP is concerned about trends in UK-EU trade since the pandemic and Brexit.

Question

What recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of UK trade with the EU. We must understand the impact of these changes on our economy.

Answer from Penny Mordaunt

Covid has had a huge negative impact on global supply chains and trade in both goods and services.

Partly answered

Not addressed: No specific assessment or figures provided about UK-EU trade trends.

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Q2 Alex Cunningham Lab
Business & Trade
Context

The MP is concerned that UK exports to Germany have fallen by 11% this year, outside of the top 10 trading partners for the first time in 71 years.

Question

It is interesting that Ministers are talking about growing trade when it is actually going in the other direction. Trade with Germany is worth eight times our trade with Australia, so we must all be concerned to hear that UK exports to Germany are down by 11% so far this year. We have also fallen outside Germany's top 10 trading partners for the first time in 71 years. The Minister must share these concerns, so what is she going to do about it?

Answer from Penny Mordaunt

UK trade in goods with the EU has been steadily increasing this year and is now above average levels for 2020, and exports are increasing faster than imports. However, we recognise that there are difficulties, which is why, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said, we have stood up the export support service, which launched on 1 October. That is primarily focused on trade with the EU, but will, over time, be expanded to rest of world.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not address specific concerns about UK-Germany and overall EU trading position directly.

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Q3 Gareth Thomas Labour (Co-op) Harrow West
Brexit Business & Trade
Context

The MP is concerned that the government may be focusing too much on small gains in Asia rather than addressing larger losses in Europe.

Question

Last month, the previous Secretary of State said that it had been a mistake to focus “too much on trade with the EU despite the richest opportunities being in the Asia-Pacific.” Are the Government now making the reverse mistake by focusing too much on small gains in Asia despite the far bigger losses we are facing in Europe?

Answer from Penny Mordaunt

The issue is that as part of the EU we had to focus on trade with the EU and we were hampered in setting our own agreements and policies with the rest of the world. Now we can trade with the rest of the world as well as the EU.

Not addressed: Did not address the specific concern about prioritizing Asian markets over European ones.

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Q4 Jacob Young
Business & Trade
Context

The MP is highlighting the positive impact of UK trade deals with various countries outside the EU, particularly for businesses in Teesside.

Question

It is fantastic that the UK has already agreed trade deals with almost 70 countries, plus the EU, that accounted for £744 billion-worth of UK bilateral trade in 2020. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this is firm evidence of our striking out into the world and seizing the new opportunities that we now have ahead of us outside of the EU that will benefit Teesside businesses in the long run?

Answer from Penny Mordaunt

I thank my hon. Friend for all the work he is doing to ensure that businesses can capitalise on these new opportunities. We need to give them the tools to do the job and help them to break into new markets, but the opportunities are immense.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not provide specific details or commitments about benefits for Teesside businesses.

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