Secretary of State for Business and Trade to be quizzed by Lords committee

Tomorrow the House of Lords International Agreements Committee will be holding a one-off evidence session with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Peter Kyle. 

Amongst other topics, the session will cover trade relations with the US, India and China and touch upon sectors such as AI and green energy.  

Giving evidence will be: 

• Rt Hon Peter Kyle MP, Secretary of State for Business and Trade  

• Amanda Brooks, Director General, Trade Policy, Implementation and Negotiations, Department for Business and Trade (DBT)  

• Kate Joseph, Director General, Economic Security and Trade Relations, DBT 

Questions the committee is likely to cover include: 

• Is the Government actively working towards a comprehensive FTA with the US? If so, how will the UK reconcile any US asks that conflict with the UK's obligations in other trade agreements already in force? 

• How is the Government identifying and defining risk in its trade with China? Which UK sectors are the most exposed to risk in their relationship with China? 

• What advantage does the Government believe the UK had as a first mover with India, and how does the EU–India agreement alter that? Which UK sectors now face a relative disadvantage? 

• How will trade policy be used to support growth in key sectors such as AI development, green energy, and advanced manufacturing? 

• Can the Government credibly claim that its trade policy is grounded in a rules-based system, or is it one operating without any rules? 

• How will the Government align commitments made in different FTAs, and under CPTPP, on complex regulatory issues such as SPS regulations and digital and data commitments? How will it ensure that the commitments it has made in its FTAs are compatible with its approach to the EU reset negotiations? 

• What criteria does the Government use to determine which instrument should govern its trade relations with other countries (for example, FTAs, sectoral deals, ‘mini deals' or MoUs)? 

• What measures will the Department put in place to improve parliamentary scrutiny of sector-specific trade agreements, as promised in the Government's Trade and Industrial Strategies? 

• What progress is being made to improve the UK's trade defence toolkit to prevent hostile or coercive trade practices? 

The session will take place on Tuesday 24 February at 4:00pm and can be followed on Parliament TV.