(North Shropshire) (LD)
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Business and
Trade if she will make a statement on the comprehensive and
progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership.
The Minister for International Trade ()
The Secretary of State for Business and Trade signed the
accession protocol to the comprehensive and progressive agreement
for trans-Pacific partnership on Sunday 16 July in Auckland. The
UK will be the first new member since CPTPP was created. With the
UK as a member, CPTPP will have a combined GDP of £12 trillion
and will account for 15% of global GDP. Accession to the
agreement sends a powerful signal that the UK is using our
post-Brexit freedoms to boost our economy. It will secure our
place as the second largest economy in a trade grouping dedicated
to free and rules-based trade. It gives us a seat at the table in
setting standards for the global economy.
The agreement is a gateway to the wider Indo-Pacific, which is
set to account for the majority of global growth and around half
of the world’s middle-class consumers in the decades to come.
That will bring new opportunities for British businesses abroad
and will support jobs at home. More than 99% of current UK goods
exports to CPTPP countries will be eligible for zero tariffs. The
UK’s world-leading services firms will benefit from modern rules,
ensuring non-discriminatory treatment and greater transparency.
That will make it easier for them to provide services to
consumers in other CPTPP countries.
In an historic first, joining CPTPP will mean that the UK and
Malaysia are in a free trade agreement together for the first
time. That will give businesses better access to a market worth
£330 billion. Manufacturers of key UK exports will be able to
make the most of tariff reductions to that thriving market.
Tariffs of around 80% on whisky will be eliminated within 10
years, and tariffs of 30% on cars will be eliminated within seven
years. Joining CPTPP marks a key step in the development of the
UK’s independent trade policy. Our status as an independent
trading nation is putting the UK in an enviable position.
Membership of that agreement will be a welcome addition to our
bilateral free-trade agreements with more than 70 countries. I
pay tribute to the many officials and Ministers who have worked
on this deal over the past two years, some of whom are in the
Chamber today.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question.
The Government published a written statement yesterday that the
CPTPP had been signed on 16 July. Unfortunately, Members have not
had an opportunity to scrutinise the agreement, or to ask the
Secretary of State questions about its impact. The CPTPP contains
controversial provisions that will potentially undermine British
health and safety standards, as well as those in place for the
environment and animal welfare. Organisations from trade unions
to the RSPCA have expressed their concern. It is apparent that
clauses in the arrangement will allow large companies to sue the
UK Government behind closed doors if they believe that their
profits have suffered from changes to laws or regulations.
Palm oil produced in Malaysia will have tariffs of 12%
eliminated, including from areas that have been deforested. There
is apparently no mechanism to ensure that imports of palm oil
have been sustainably produced. On food standards, the agreement
excludes eggs as a sensitive sector, meaning that egg products
will be allowed to be imported from countries that are CPTPP
members, but where egg production relies heavily on battery caged
hens, which were outlawed in Britain in 2012.
For other animal products, sow stalls, the use of antibiotics,
hormone treatments and pesticides that are outlawed here will all
potentially be imported in greater numbers. Imports that have a
lower production cost but a much higher animal welfare and
environmental one, risk undermining our world-leading British
farmers and food producers.
The Business and Trade Committee, which provides important
scrutiny of the process for free trade agreements, produced a
report last week that lamented its inability to scrutinise all
elements of the trade agreement.
I have the following questions for the Minister. What steps are
his Government taking to ensure that the British public can be
sure that the food they buy has been produced to the food safety
and animal welfare standards that they rightly expect, such as
those of the British Lion code of practice? What estimate has he
made of the long-term impact on British farming of this
agreement, which will bring an increase to GDP of only 0.8% over
a decade?
I am disappointed that the hon. Lady does not see the
opportunities for farmers and for this country as a whole from
CPTPP. If she shared the confidence in British producers and
British services that we have on the Government Benches, she
might be able to look at this deal with a glass half full, rather
than a glass half empty, but I know that would be a fundamental
change of attitude.
The hon. Lady is simply wrong in many areas. It is important that
we stop peddling these myths about standards related to CPTPP or
any trade deal we are doing. Let us be clear that this deal does
not lower any UK product or quality safety requirements. The
import standards and import rules that we had the day before we
joined CPTPP will be exactly the same the day after. The deal
does not alter safety standards, but gives us an opportunity to
engage and talk with colleagues and friends around the world on
how we would like to improve and work on important issues, such
as the environment, which she mentioned, and there is indeed an
environment chapter. For example, the UK is committed to tackling
illegal deforestation within UK supply chains, and this deal will
not change that. As part of concluding CPTPP, the UK and Malaysia
have issued a joint statement to reaffirm and strengthen joint
work to support sustainable production, particularly of palm oil,
in our supply chains.
(North East Hampshire)
(Con)
Despite what the naysayers on the Opposition Benches might say,
is it not true that this deal benefits counties and nations
across these isles and gives our farmers the opportunity to
export to parts of the world that will pay a premium for their
great products?
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right, as always, and I thank
him for his work in making this deal a reality too. He is
absolutely correct that this deal creates opportunities across
the whole range of food and beverages, including Scotch whisky,
which I have already mentioned. This deal should be welcomed by
Scotland for the opportunity it gives, but in many areas of food
we are opening up markets, such as in dairy produce. He is
absolutely right to point out that we estimate that CPTPP will
bring benefits to every single nation and region of the UK. I
would hope today that we hear about those positive strides on
CPTPP from all those in the Chamber who represent different parts
of the country.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
(Torfaen) (Lab)
I congratulate the hon. Member for North Shropshire () on securing this urgent
question. We on the Opposition Benches are pro-trade,
pro-business and pro-worker, and we welcome the opening up of new
markets for UK exporters. I have met representatives from the
CPTPP signatories and made clear to them our commitment to
driving up trade. However, we now must scrutinise the full
details of this agreement because, with this Government, the
devil is always in the detail.
What provisions are in place to ensure the highest possible
workers’ rights and that UK workers are operating on a level
playing field? The Minister mentioned the sustainability
agreement with Malaysia. Can he tell us exactly how that will
deal with the concerns raised on palm oil? Can he also tell us
whether the Government have put in place any side-letters, as the
Government of New Zealand have done, to exclude the operation of
the investor-state dispute resolution mechanism? Can he confirm
that the agreement will not undermine the Windsor framework? On
China’s application to join CPTPP, what approach will the
Government take to safeguard British interests? We have raised
the issue of the scrutiny process on free trade agreements many
times. Can he set out what the scrutiny process will be?
The Government’s own modelling suggests that this accession will
add 0.08% to GDP. At the same time, the OBR predicts that exports
will fall by 6.6% this year—a hit of more than £51 billion.
Promised trade deals with the US and India are not even in sight.
Is it not the reality today that we have a Government out of
ideas and bad at negotiating, and it is the economy that
suffers?
I am sorry to hear the Opposition yet again never miss an
opportunity to talk Britain down. This is a great opportunity for
businesses right across the UK. Already, CPTPP countries sustain
about one in 100 jobs in the UK, and that will only go in one
direction—it will increase because of the opportunities,
including in investment, that open up. The shadow Secretary of
State mentioned investor-state dispute settlement. There is
coverage of ISDS. It is a good thing and it helps ensure
confidence in international trading and international investment.
He mentioned China. He will be well aware that we are not yet
fully ratified members of CPTPP, so it would be inappropriate for
us to comment on any individual application. However, what I can
say is that we know after two years of negotiation what an
incredibly high bar exists on membership of this fantastic
organisation.
(Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale
and Tweeddale) (Con)
Does my hon. Friend agree that this is not only an important
trade deal, but an important geopolitical event that allows
Britain’s shared values, which the Labour Prime Minister of New
Zealand and the Labour Prime Minister of Australia say they
share, to be brought to the partnership and to strengthen the
partnership as it goes forward?
My right hon. Friend is making a powerful and important point
about the importance of pivoting to the Indo-Pacific, where there
is so much global growth. We want to be part of that growth. I
thank him for the incredible work he does as one of the Prime
Minister’s trade envoys. As well as more trade, this deal will
lead to further co-operation. When we trade with countries, we
talk to them more, we have agreements and discussions on a whole
range of issues, some of which go beyond the strict terms of a
trade agreement. There are many opportunities to come out of this
deal, and I am pleased that many Members on the Government
Benches recognise them.
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
I call the shadow SNP spokesperson.
(Gordon) (SNP)
It feels unnecessary to repeat this, but this Government seem
willing to sign up to any trade deals. My party is in favour of
good ones, and we are against poor ones, and that is why we
oppose this deal. [Interruption.] The concerns that we have,
despite the heckling from those on the Government Benches, about
the lack of mechanisms to safeguard workers’ rights and about the
potential impacts on domestic standards, particularly in the
agrifoods sectors, do not go away with blustery repetition and
flat contradiction, which seems to be the stock-in-trade in all
that Government Front Benchers have to say about this deal.
The Secretary of State gets aerated whenever it is pointed out
that the Government’s own figures show that GDP is estimated to
increase by only 0.08% over the next 10 years as a result of the
deal, at the same time as the Office for Budget Responsibility
forecasts a 4% hit to GDP through Brexit. Ministers have had an
awful long time to find out what the figure actually is, if they
do not believe that 0.08% figure. Without reference to vague
opportunities, the number of middle-class consumers in the
Pacific rim or the GDP of countries in the CPTPP, and without
deviation, repetition or hesitation, what exactly will the impact
be on UK GDP as a result of this deal?
Again, I am disappointed to see the hon. Gentleman talk
negatively about a deal that will benefit Scotland as well as all
other parts of the United Kingdom. It will add significant
amounts. We estimate that in the long run, at least £2 billion a
year will be added to the UK economy, including in his
constituency. Perhaps he would like to welcome that, rather than
be negative about it. Also, this is a growing area of the world.
There are likely to be new members, so we anticipate considerable
opportunities going forward. In Scotland, 547 businesses are
already owned by CPTPP countries, employing more than 20,000
people in Scotland. Perhaps he would like to welcome that.
(Fylde) (Con)
As someone who has served as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy for
the past seven years in Chile, Colombia, Peru and Argentina, I
warmly welcome this announcement. I urge the Minister to make
sure we are using the time between now and finally joining CPTPP
to make sure that in the sectors that we think will be hugely
beneficial to us, we are ramping up that British industry
presence and are working with His Majesty’s trade commissioner
for the area to identify opportunities.
I thank my hon. Friend for his work as a trade envoy as well as
all the trade envoys for the important work they do. He makes an
important point: signing the deal is one thing, but we need to
ensure that it is used. The Secretary of State has said that
again and again. We will be making sure that there is full
benefit, using export support services and all the training,
trade advisers and so on to promote the deal, as we have with the
Australia and New Zealand deals, because it is important that we
get the full benefit of the deal and maximise those benefits
right across the country.
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
I call the Chair of the Business and Trade Committee.
(Bristol North West) (Lab)
UK car manufacturers are currently changing their supply chains
to buy components from either the EU or the UK so that they can
continue to export their cars into the EU. However, under CPTPP,
those same companies ought to be buying parts from Vietnam to
export their cars to Mexico. That is quite confusing. Will the
Department publish guidance for business that highlights the
regulatory conflicts between trade with the European Union under
the trade and co-operation agreement and trade with members of
the CPTPTPP? Sorry—you know what I meant. [Laughter.]
It trips off the tongue eventually. The hon. Gentleman is
underestimating the opportunities, but he has given me the chance
to point out one of the key benefits of CPTPP, which is
cumulation, with products and parts being used—of course, supply
chains can be complex across CPTPP—and still benefiting from the
lower tariffs. So there are huge opportunities with CPTPP for the
reasons that he outlined.
(Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)
I congratulate the Minister as well as all the Ministers who have
contributed to this significant moment, with the UK striking a
trade deal with some of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
Does he agree that this provides a great opportunity for all
parts of the United Kingdom where we have significant strengths
in terms of driving exports? What action is he planning to take
to promote the trade deal all around the UK so that
manufacturers, food producers and other suppliers take the
opportunity that he has provided?
I thank my right hon. Friend. Again, I really appreciate the
recognition that the deal will benefit all nations and all
regions of the UK. In Wales, for example, there are currently 281
CPTPP-owned businesses employing more than 16,500 people, and we
expect that to go up. There are trade opportunities in so many
areas covering both goods and services. That is a really
important point: as we negotiate a lot of trade deals around the
world, one thing we notice about many of the deals done by the EU
on our behalf is that they did not cover services, yet services
are over 70% of our economy, so it is great that we are now
negotiating deals that fit our modern economy.
(Glasgow North) (SNP)
Even if the world was flat—for the benefit of the Minister’s Back
Benchers, it is not—the Pacific would still be very far away
compared to Europe, so how does the deal benefit fresh seafood
producers and shellfish producers on the west coast of Scotland
who cannot get their fresh produce into the much-closer European
market as a result of Brexit? How on earth are they supposed to
get that fresh produce even more quickly halfway around the
world?
Again, I am sorry to hear hon. Members conflate different points.
We have left the European Union—that was a democratic
decision—and we have a good free trade agreement with the
European Union that will continue. CPTPP creates opportunities in
areas of the world with considerable growth where we did not
previously have deals. Surely the hon. Member must recognise that
that is a positive thing right across the country, including for
his constituents?
(The Wrekin) (Con)
This is good news. I am delighted that the Government have signed
up to this huge trade partnership. We are the first non-founding
member to have done so. While it may not be in the convenient
party political interests of some Opposition Members, it is very
much in the national interest and, dare I say it, in the interest
of Shropshire businesses—small, medium and large—who will now be
able to export tariff-free or towards tariff-free to places such
as Malaysia and Vietnam. What progress, if any, has the Minister
heard about the United States potentially joining the partnership
as well? That, of course, would be a huge boon to everybody.
My hon. Friend makes an important point about the role that small
and medium-sized enterprises can play. We are working to
encourage even more SMEs to export through export support
services and the trade advisers network given the opportunities
that this and other deals will present to them. He will be aware
that the US is not entering into free trade agreements with
anybody at the moment. I have spoken to congressmen and women in
the US, and there are mixed views, but many have great enthusiasm
for the CPTPP.
(Slough) (Lab)
Despite all the Government fanfare, the CPTPP trade deal will
contribute merely 0.08% to our country’s GDP over the next
decade. Laughably, the Secretary of State is now disputing her
own Department’s modelling. As part of the spring Budget, the OBR
forecast said that in 2023, due to Government incompetence, the
hard Brexit and failure to sign other free-trade deals, UK
exports are set to fall by 6.6%. That is a staggering £51 billion
hit to our economy. How exactly will the Minister compensate for
that loss with respect to the signing of the new CPTPP deal?
Again, I am so disappointed to hear Opposition Members never
missing an opportunity to talk Britain down. CPTPP will benefit
every nation and region of the UK, to the tune of billions and
billions of pounds—[Interruption.] The hon. Member says that is
tiny, but if we put it in his bank account tomorrow, he would
probably be quite happy. We are talking about huge amounts of
money and lots of jobs right across the United Kingdom. It would
be great to see the Opposition support one of these deals, which
will benefit their own constituents, at some point.
(Cleethorpes) (Con)
I join others in congratulating the Secretary of State, her
predecessors and all the Ministers involved in delivering this
excellent deal, which, as has been said, is really good news for
the UK. It is depressing to hear Opposition Members’ comments;
they clearly have little confidence in British companies.
Businesses in the Yorkshire and Humber region will certainly
benefit from the new deal. Will the Minister elaborate a little
more on how he sees those businesses being able to take advantage
of it?
I thank my hon. Friend for his work in championing international
trade over many years. He is right that signing this deal and
other deals is one thing, but we must ensure that businesses are
aware of the opportunities. Therefore, we will be, and are
already, working through export support services, trade advisers
and other programmes to ensure that we take full advantage of the
opportunities available. We want businesses large and small, some
of whom have probably never exported before, to realise that
there is a whole world of opportunities out there in the EU, but
also way beyond that.
(Rutherglen and Hamilton
West) (Ind)
Great emphasis has been placed on the diplomatic benefits that
the UK will see through joining the CPTPP. What further steps are
Ministers taking to cultivate positive diplomatic relations in
the Indo-Pacific region?
There are multiple ways in which we are doing so. In fact, the
Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office,
my right hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (), is doing exactly
that right around the Indo-Pacific on an ongoing basis. As well
as advancing our trading opportunities, there are many
opportunities to have discussions on a wide range of issues that
concern us and our constituents, whether that is the environment,
labour rights or a whole bunch of others. Some of those are part
of trade deals, but many go beyond them. We have discussions
across multiple Government Departments on those issues.
(Bracknell) (Con)
I thank the Government for this excellent announcement and
congratulate all of those who have made it possible. It is beyond
question that joining the CPTPP is absolutely the right thing to
do. May I please ask the Minister what message he has for the
doomsters who think that Britain should not have a global role,
who think that Britain is in permanent decline and who think that
we would be better off back in the European Union?
The message is quite simple: life is better with the
Conservatives in charge.
(Strangford) (DUP)
Let us not be churlish—this is a good deal and the Government
deserve some credit for it. I sometimes despair when I hear those
negative comments. When something is good, let us say that it is
good. In the light of this tremendous deal secured by the
Business and Trade Secretary, will the Minister further outline
how his Department will work with FCDO Ministers to ensure that
such deals further the aims and terms of our moral duty and
international obligations? Again, I congratulate the Minister and
the Government on their hard work well achieved and a deal
done.
I thank the hon. Member for his always gracious and considered
comments. He is right that we are committed to ensuring that all
nations and regions of the UK benefit from this deal, including
Northern Ireland, which is doing great things with export
opportunities. In fact, there is a Northern Ireland investment
summit coming up and, therefore, many opportunities. We will work
constantly with the Administrations to make sure we take full
advantage of this and all deals.
(Harrow East) (Con)
I congratulate my hon. Friend and everyone involved in securing
this deal. The impact of exporting services across the world is
clearly vital. Will he outline the advantages for the services
deals available, particularly to London and the digital economy,
which can be reached from anywhere in the world?
My hon. Friend makes a sensible point that is pivotal to our
future trading arrangements. We are the second biggest service
exporter in the world. Those services are increasingly being
transported, and therefore physical distance does not matter—they
can be delivered at the press of a button. We have an excellent
reputation on those. He makes the point about London; more than
3,000 businesses are owned by CPTPP members, and over 100,000
jobs are reliant on those businesses. That will only increase
over time. It is important to stress that London is
benefiting from our relationship with CPTPP members, but more
than 75% of the benefits are outside London.
Karl MᶜCartney (Lincoln) (Con)
In contrast to the negativity from the Opposition Benches that
oozes across the Chamber, I positively welcome my hon. Friend’s
update. Is there anything comparable in recent history or down
the tracks as good as the agreement and partnership that has been
entered into?
Let us bank this agreement for the positive benefits it will
bring. My hon. Friend knows I am a yellowbelly, and Lincolnshire
people always talk common sense, as does he. There are a lot of
opportunities, but this is one of many deals we have already
signed and inked—more than 70 since we left the European Union.
We are in negotiations with many areas including India,
Switzerland and others. Importantly, we are focusing on services
as well as goods, because some of those deals do not cover
services at the moment.
(Gedling) (Con)
In the 1975 European Economic Community referendum campaign,
Barbara Castle asked:
“what kind of internationalism is it that says that henceforth
this country must give priority to a Frenchman over an Indian, a
German over an Australian, an Italian over a Malaysian? This
isn’t the language of internationalism… It is Euro-jingoism.”
Does my hon. Friend agree that, with the signing of the
partnership, the era of Euro-jingoism is dead, and once more we
are truly an international trading power?
My hon. Friend speaks eloquently and is absolutely right. Europe
will continue to be an important trading partner of the United
Kingdom, but there is a whole world out there that we have not
yet taken full advantage of. The Government are committed to
working on behalf of our constituents to recognise the benefits
from around the world, through our relationships with
Commonwealth countries and developing countries that can
significantly benefit from international deals. The EU will
continue to be important, but there is a whole new world out
there and we want to be part of it.
