Progress with trade negotiations

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 30 Nov 2021 Closed: 27 May 2022 Parliament page
Trade is vital to the UK economy. In 2019, the UK exported goods and services worth £689 billion and UK imports were worth £717 billion. Following EU exit, the Government is taking forward the UK’s independent international trade policy and is aiming for 80% of UK trade to be covered … Read more
8 Recommendations
21 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
1 Letter
1 Event
Activity timeline 4 events
27 May
2022
Report published
18 Mar
2022
Report published
22 Feb
2022
Correspondence
19 Jan
2022
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
19 Jan 2022
View on parliament.uk
Progress with trade negotiations
Amanda Brooks · Department for International Trade Beatrice Kilroy-Nolan · Cabinet Office Crawford Falconer · Department for International Trade James Bowler CB · HM Treasury Katrina Williams · The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with trade negotiations HC 993 18 Mar 2022 29 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
12 results
Clear
3 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
The Department is not doing enough to help businesses, particularly SMEs, to take advantage of...
The Department is not doing enough to help businesses, particularly SMEs, to take advantage of opportunities offered by new trade agreements. Businesses need to understand and take advantage of the opportunities arising from trade agreements if agreements are to deliver … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees to write to the Committee within 12 months to set out how it has supported businesses, particularly SMEs, to take full advantage of existing and newly negotiated trade agreements, including measuring preference utilisation rates, reducing burdens for SMEs, and detailing progress on its export strategy; target implementation date: April 2023.
HM Treasury
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5 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
Parliament and the public are not being provided with clear and transparent information to understand...
Parliament and the public are not being provided with clear and transparent information to understand the impact of trade agreements. Business associations and consumer groups are concerned that it is unclear how trade policy aligns with other policy objectives, and … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and says it publishes materials before negotiations, after they conclude, and is highly consultative, publishing explanatory information on the impact of agreements. It constantly reviews its economic analysis methodologies and seeks views of the public through tools including the Public Attitudes to Trade Tracker.
HM Treasury
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6 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
The Department has not done enough to support effective Parliamentary scrutiny of trade agreements.
The Department has not done enough to support effective Parliamentary scrutiny of trade agreements. Despite the Department making additional commitments beyond the statutory framework, the International Trade Committee has not been provided with information from the Department in sufficient time … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and states that it publishes and provides its strategic approach to each new FTA at the outset of negotiations to relevant select committees, including negotiation objectives, and offers oral updates to the relevant select committees.
HM Treasury
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8 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
The Department aims to secure agreements with countries representing 80% of total UK trade by...
The Department aims to secure agreements with countries representing 80% of total UK trade by the end of 2022. This aim is stated in the Department’s 2020–21 annual report and accounts and is a government manifesto commitment. The National Audit … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the implicit recommendation to meet the 80% trade agreement coverage target by April 2023, outlining its negotiation pipeline and committing to provide an update within 12 months.
HM Treasury
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9 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
We noted that the Department is quite a long way from reaching the 80% target...
We noted that the Department is quite a long way from reaching the 80% target and asked the Department when it expects to meet it. The Department told us that it thinks it will reach the 80% target but that … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the implicit recommendation to meet the 80% trade agreement target by April 2023, outlining its ambitious negotiation pipeline, and commits to update the Committee on progress within 12 months.
HM Treasury
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10 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
A deal with the US would contribute 16.8% towards achieving the 80% target as the...
A deal with the US would contribute 16.8% towards achieving the 80% target as the US is the UK’s largest trading partner.21 However, negotiations with the US are not currently progressing. The Department told us that in the meantime it … Read more
Government Response
The UK is ready to progress with a UK-US FTA when the US is ready and continues to work with the US on state level MOUs, securing the removal of Section 232 tariffs.
HM Treasury
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14 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
We asked what the Department was doing to measure the actual benefits of trade agreements.
We asked what the Department was doing to measure the actual benefits of trade agreements. The Department told us that it is committed to monitoring and evaluating the impacts of agreements.33 For example, it has committed to publishing monitoring reports … Read more
Government Response
The department publishes detailed impact assessments and will publish monitoring reports to inform on progress and actual benefits of FTAs.
HM Treasury
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23 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
When we asked the Department about its overarching trade strategy it told us that it...
When we asked the Department about its overarching trade strategy it told us that it aims to have “an open trade environment that promotes jobs and wages and reduces poverty”. The Department plans to achieve this through trade negotiations and … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and says it is committed to a high level of transparency, publishing materials before and after negotiations, consulting prior to and during, publishing explanatory information, reviewing economic analysis methodologies, and seeking public views through tools like the Public Attitudes to Trade Tracker.
HM Treasury
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26 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
The Department said that it is its job to explain, engage and communicate and that...
The Department said that it is its job to explain, engage and communicate and that when communicating information about trade agreements, it tries to set out what this might mean for consumers.72 We asked the Department why its forecast of … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the call for greater transparency, detailing its commitment to publishing materials and stakeholder engagement. It explains the updated modelling methodology for the Australia FTA forecast, noting its continuous review and scrutiny.
HM Treasury
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27 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
The Department has made additional commitments beyond the statutory framework under the Constitutional Reform and...
The Department has made additional commitments beyond the statutory framework under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 (CRAG) for Parliamentary scrutiny of trade agreements, but the Parliamentary committees responsible for trade agreements scrutiny have called for Parliament to have … Read more
Government Response
The government publishes its strategic approach to each new FTA at the outset of negotiations, provides oral updates to the relevant select committees and will continue to review arrangements.
HM Treasury
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28 Recommendation Accepted
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
The opportunity for Parliament to view negotiating objectives at the outset would aid its scrutiny...
The opportunity for Parliament to view negotiating objectives at the outset would aid its scrutiny of trade agreements.78 There is a precedent in Parliament to share privileged information between government and select committees. For example, this Committee routinely sees privileged … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and states that it publishes and provides its strategic approach to each new FTA at the outset of negotiations to relevant select committees, including negotiation objectives, and offers oral updates to the relevant select committees.
HM Treasury
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29 Conclusion Accepted
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with…
We also note that the House of Lords International Agreement Committee reported that the statutory...
We also note that the House of Lords International Agreement Committee reported that the statutory framework under CRAG is insufficient to facilitate robust and effective scrutiny of international agreements. As stated in the NAO report, the International Agreement Committee has … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the implied recommendation to strengthen parliamentary scrutiny, stating it already implements measures like publishing strategic approaches and providing updates to committees, while committing to continuously review arrangements.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 28 of 8 classified
Accepted 12
Acknowledged 8
Deferred 1
Not Addressed 6
Rejected 1
Total 8 recs + 21 conclusions
Correspondence 1 letter
22 Feb 2022 Correspondence from James Bowler, Permanent Secretary, Department for International Trade, re Public Accounts Committee: Progress of Trade Negotiations, dated 4 February 2022
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