# Department for International Trade

Part of a series of articles on :
Brexit :
Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union
Glossary of terms :
Background
European Communities Act
1975 EC membership referendum
UK rebate
Bruges speech
No. No. No.
Maastricht Rebels
Black Wednesday
European Union (Amendment) Act 2008
European Union Act 2011
UK opt-outs from EU legislation
Euroscepticism in the UK
UK opinion polling on EU membership
Campaigns for a referendum
People's Pledge
Labour for a Referendum
Bloomberg speech
In or Out
2013–14 EU (Referendum) Bill (unsuccessful)
2014 European Parliament election
2014 UK Parliament by-elections
Clacton
Heywood and Middleton
Rochester and Strood
2015 UK general election
2015–16 EU membership renegotiation :
2016 referendum
EU Referendum Act (Gibraltar)
EU Referendum (Date of Referendum etc.) Regulations
EU Referendum (Conduct) Regulations
Issues
Endorsements
Opinion polling
UK Government pro-EU leaflet
Campaigns
Leave campaigns
Vote Leave (official)
Business for Britain
Conservatives for Britain
BeLeave
Leave.EU
Bpoplive
The Freedom Association
Better Off Out
Grassroots Out
Labour Leave
Get Britain Out
Bruges Group
Campaign for an Independent Britain
Brexit: The Movie
Remain campaigns
Britain Stronger in Europe (official)
Labour In for Britain
European Movement UK
Britain in Europe
British Influence
Business for New Europe
Nucleus
Project Fear
Outcome
Results
Causes for result
International reactions
Immediate aftermath
2016 Conservative Party election
2016 Labour Party election
2016 UKIP election
Department for Exiting the EU
Department for International Trade
Allegations of unlawful campaigning
Alleged Russian interference :
Notice of withdrawal
Article 50 process
Miller case (Article 50)
EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017
Brexit plan
Repeal Bill plan
2017 UK general election :
Negotiations
Negotiation positions
EU negotiation mandate
Chequers agreement
Timeline: 2017, 2018, 2019
2019 European Parliament election
2019 UK general election :
Withdrawal agreement
Brexit divorce bill
Fish for finance
Irish backstop
No-deal Brexit
Northern Ireland Protocol
Northern Ireland Protocol Bill
Windsor Framework :
Legislation
Withdrawal Act 2018 (Gibraltar)
Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018
Cooper–Letwin Act
Benn Act
2019 suspension of rebel Conservative MPs
Public Vote Bill (not passed)
Terms of Withdrawal Bills (not passed)
Scottish EU Continuity Bill (blocked)
Withdrawal Agreement Act (Gibraltar)
Scottish EU Continuity Act
Internal Market Act
EU (Future Relationship) Act
Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill :
Impact
Impact on the Irish border
Good Friday Agreement
Impact on the EU
Economic effects
Effects on Gibraltar
Scientific cooperation
Effects on popular culture
Retained EU law
2021 Jersey dispute :
EU–UK relations
Relations pre- and post-Brexit
EU–UK trade negotiation
EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA)
Partnership Council
Partnership Assembly
Relations with EU member states
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Akrotiri and Dhekelia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Ireland–UK border
British–Irish Council
North/South Ministerial Council
Italy
Lithuania
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Spain
Status of Gibraltar
Gibraltar–Spain border
Sweden
Conjectured EEA membership :
Opposition
Post-referendum opinion polling
New initiatives
Change Britain
More United
Open Britain
The New European
Unite to Remain
Led By Donkeys
Revoke Article 50 petition
Postcards from the 48%
Proposed second Scottish independence referendum
Calls for a second referendum
People's Vote
Britain for Europe
European Movement UK
For our Future's Sake
Healthier IN the EU
InFacts
Open Britain
Our Future Our Choice
Scientists for EU
Other organisations
Best for Britain
Bollocks to Brexit
Change UK
Liberal Democrats
Right to Vote :
Timeline Bloomberg speech Jan 2013 Referendum Bill blockedJan 2014 European Parliament election May 2014 2015 general election May 2015 Renegotiation begins Jun 2015 Referendum Act passed Dec 2015 Renegotiation concluded Feb 2016 Referendum held Jun 2016 David Cameron resigns as PM Jul 2016 Theresa May becomes PM Jul 2016 Article 50 judgement Jan 2017 Brexit plan presentedFeb 2017 Notification Act passed Mar 2017 Article 50 invoked Mar 2017 Repeal Bill plan presentedMar 2017 2017 general election Jun 2017 Brexit negotiations begin Jun 2017 Withdrawal Act passedJun 2018 Chequers plan presented Jul 2018 Withdrawal agreement plan presented July 2018 Withdrawal agreement released Nov 2018 Scottish Continuity Bill blockedDec 2018 Meaningful votes Jan–Mar 2019 Brexit delayed until 12 April Mar 2019 Cooper–Letwin Act passed Apr 2019 Brexit delayed until 31 October Apr 2019 European Parliament election May 2019 Theresa May resigns as PM Jul 2019 Boris Johnson becomes PM Jul 2019 Prorogation and annulment Aug–Sep 2019 Benn Act passed Sep 2019 Withdrawal agreement revised Oct 2019 Brexit delayed until 31 January Oct 2019 2019 general election Dec 2019 Agreement Act passed Jan 2020 UK leaves the European Union Jan 2020 Implementation period begins Jan 2020 UK–EU trade deal agreed Dec 2020 Future Relationship Act passed Dec 2020 Scottish Continuity Act passed Dec 2020 Implementation period ends Dec 2020 New EU–UK relationship begins Jan 2021 UK–EU trade deal ratified Apr 2021 Windsor Framework released Feb 2023 Windsor framework adopted Mar 2023 :
EU portal
UK portal :
vte :
The Department for International Trade (DIT) was a department of the United Kingdom Government, from July 2016 to February 2023. It was responsible for striking and extending trade agreements between the United Kingdom and foreign countries, as well as for encouraging foreign investment and export trade.
DIT's purpose was to develop, coordinate and deliver a new trade policy for the United Kingdom, including preparing for and then negotiating free trade agreements and market access deals with non-EU countries.
The final Secretary of State for International Trade, was Kemi Badenoch. On 7 February 2023, the department was merged in a reshuffle with parts of the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to form the new Department for Business and Trade. Badenoch became Secretary of State for Business and Trade.
The department was scrutinised by the International Trade Select Committee.

## History

The department was created by former Prime Minister Theresa May, shortly after she took office on 13 July 2016, following the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union. It took on the responsibilities of UK Trade & Investment, which was previously operated by both the Foreign Office and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; it also took on the latter's other relevant trade functions, as well as responsibility for UK Export Finance. In doing so, the department can trace its institutional history back to the longstanding Department of Trade and Industry (1970-2007), itself formed from a merger of the Board of Trade with the short-lived Ministry of Technology in 1970.
The Board of Trade was the government body, arising from the Privy Council with historic responsibility for British commerce and industry. When the UK joined the European Economic Community in 1973, the Board lost most of its powers and responsibilities, which had become a competencies of the EEC, later the European Union. Nevertheless, the Board persisted as a dormant institution whose presidency remained a subsidiary title of the Secretary of State with responsibilities for trade. In 2017 the Board was reconstituted as an advisory body, designed to engage with the whole of the UK on the UK’s global trade and investment agenda, with a focus on promoting the UK regions as destinations to trade and do business with. The Board's president remains the Secretary of State for International Trade, who by virtue of their membership of the Privy Council, is the only member. Advisors to the Board include industry leaders, academics, junior ministers in the Department for International Trade, and the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The reports of the Board of Trade are an important form of policy direction for the Department for International Trade.
By February 2017, the department employed about 200 trade negotiators.
The department was dissolved on 7 February 2023, and its functions and personnel transferred to the new Department for Business and Trade.

## Ministers

The final roster of Ministers in the Department for International Trade were as follows:
| Minister | Rank | Title | Portfolio |
| Kemi Badenoch MP | Secretary of State | Secretary of State President of the Board of Trade Minister for Women and Equalities | The Secretary of State is responsible for securing world-class free trade agreements and reducing market access barriers, ensuring that consumers and businesses can benefit from both; encouraging economic growth and a green industrial revolution across all parts of the UK through attracting and retaining inward investment. They are responsible for supporting UK business to take full advantage of trade opportunities, including those arising from delivering free trade agreements, facilitating UK exports. Additionally they champion the rules-based international trading system and operating the UK’s new trading system, including protecting UK businesses from unfair trade practices. As Minister for Women and Equalities, the Secretary of State also has responsibility for developing an equalities policy that is based on individual autonomy and dignity and for promoting equality of opportunity for everyone. |
| Greg Hands MP | Minister of State | Minister of State for Trade Policy | The Minister of State supports the Secretary of State with all free trade agreements, trade remedies, the Board of Trade, market access strategy, and union policy. The Minister is also responsible for external engagement via the Strategic Trade Advisory Group, sectoral trade advisory groups, trade union advisory groups, civil society and think tank roundtables. |
| Dominic Johnson, Baron Johnson of Lainston | Minister of State | Minister for Investment | The Minister of State encourages economic growth and a green industrial revolution across all parts of the UK through attracting and retaining inward investment. The minister’s responsibilities include: investment promotion across all sectors, the Office for Investment, delivering an investment strategy to drive further inward investment to the UK, investor relationship management, Sovereign Investment Partnerships, and delivering key investment events. This role has typically been the domain of a member of the House of Lords. |
| Nigel Huddleston MP | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State | Minister for International Trade | The Minister is responsible for supporting the Secretary of State with: trade remedies, tariffs, disputes, parliamentary and legislative activity, sanctions and trade defence, securing global supply chains, the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU), and the Department for International Trade’s corporate activity. |
| Andrew Bowie MP | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State | Minister for Exports | The Minister's responsibilities include export promotion across all sectors, UK Export Finance (UKEF), trade missions and trade shows. The minister also supports the Secretary of State with the delivery of an export strategy to boost exports across the UK, supporting small and medium sized businesses to export, the Trade Envoy programme, and the Department's contribution to the GREAT campaign - the government's flagship international communications programme designed to drive national economic growth by encouraging an international audience to visit, study, trade, invest, live and work in the UK. |
| Maria Caulfield MP | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State | Minister for Women | Supporting the Secretary of State in their role as Minister for Women and Equalities. |
| Stuart Andrew MP | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State | Minister for Equalities | Supporting the Secretary of State in their role as Minister for Women and Equalities. |
The role of Minister of State for International Trade was downgraded, soon after Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister in October 2022, to the more junior rank of Parliamentary Under-Secretary. At the same time, Kemi Badenoch's assumption of the role of Minister for Women and Equalities saw the appointment of two additional Parliamentary Under-Secretaries to support this additional portfolio. Badenoch retained the portfolio for Women and Equalities when the department was dissolved and merged.

## Trade remedies

After Britain left the EU, the Trade Remedies Investigations Directorate (TRID) of the Department for International Trade was created to investigate whether new trade remedies are needed to prevent injury to UK industries caused by unfair trading practices and unforeseen surges in imports. These remedies usually take the form of additional duties on those imports.
Following Royal Assent of the Trade Act 2021 TRID became an independent arms-length body, the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA), on 1 June 2021. The Authority is based in Reading.