argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Exiting the EU: Trade Agreements — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What estimate his Department has made of the number of new institutions required to replicate the terms of existing trade agreements with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate my hon. Friend and the other members of the Committee on their recent visit to the United States and Canada. Those are two of the countries whose trade remedy systems we have studied, along with Australia and, in fact, the European Union system itself. As my hon. Friend says, it is common, although not universal, for the investigation process to be independent of the Government, but there is still a political decision at the end of the process by a Minister who is accountable to Parliament. It is worth pointing out, by the way, that all the Opposition parties voted against the creation of the trade remedies authority in the first place.
Exiting the EU: Trade Agreements — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What estimate his Department has made of the number of new institutions required to replicate the terms of existing trade agreements with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): We have been absolutely clear throughout this process about the importance of maintaining our trading relations with the European Union. That is why we are seeking to ensure that trade is as frictionless as possible, and why we are seeking a comprehensive free trade agreement with the EU.
Exiting the EU: Trade Agreements — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What estimate his Department has made of the number of new institutions required to replicate the terms of existing trade agreements with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.
Philip Thomas Hollobone (Conservative, Centre-right): The EU does not have comprehensive free trade agreements with some of the world’s major economies. Does the Minister believe that the United Kingdom is likely to strike such deals more quickly than the European Union?
Exiting the EU: Trade Agreements — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What estimate his Department has made of the number of new institutions required to replicate the terms of existing trade agreements with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): We remain supportive of the European Union’s negotiations with some of those trade partners while we are still a member of the EU, because we are strong believers in free trade. We have also set up 14 trade working groups with many of the leading economies, including China, India and the United States, and we look forward to making further progress with those arrangements in due course.
Exiting the EU: Trade Agreements — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What estimate his Department has made of the number of new institutions required to replicate the terms of existing trade agreements with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): Let me say first that the UK played a leading role in establishing the European Union arrangements with countries such as Mexico and Switzerland in the first place. As for the question of where we go from here, our priority is to maintain continuity in our trading relations, ensuring that all the 40-plus trading agreements we have with 70-plus countries become UK arrangements as we leave the European Union. The precise format of the further discussions that we will have with those partners will be a matter for future arrangements.
UK Trading Relations: Pacific Countries — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): We have the opportunity to enhance our global trading relationships, including those with the countries with which we share bonds of history and friendship. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State travelled to Australia and New Zealand in November to promote free trade and deepen those trading relationships. The April Commonwealth summit here in London will provide an opportunity for us to continue that work with all member states.
UK Trading Relations: Pacific Countries — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): I praise my hon. Friend for his distinguished business career in the sector before coming to this House; it means he brings real expertise to the House. He will know that we have established trade working groups with both Australia and New Zealand to explore possibilities in trade and investment. They will include agriculture, but it is too early to be sure how it will be covered in those and other future trading arrangements. The New Zealanders are very interested in this—the New Zealand High Commission recently wrote to the International Trade Committee saying: "Given the complementarity of our two economies and our deep bilateral ties," they want to do something with us, and we very much agree.
UK Trading Relations: Pacific Countries — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Agriculture
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): I am keenly aware, as are my right hon. Friend the Secretaries of State for International Trade and for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, of the importance of British agriculture in all parts of the United Kingdom and of making sure we have the necessary protections in place on animal welfare standards and so on, and also of promoting the opportunity to export our excellent British goods. Food and drink is one of our fastest-growing export sectors, and we want people to take advantage of opportunities across the UK.
UK Trading Relations: Pacific Countries — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): The Prime Minister’s first bilateral trade visit in November 2016 was to India, accompanied by the Secretary of State and myself. We have recently completed a trade audit with India that looks at all the barriers. India is at times a difficult market for British exporters to crack. We have a lot of advantages in doing business there, and the trade audit and the joint economic trade committee talks led by the Secretary of State last month are taking us in the right direction.
Exiting the EU: UK Trade — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What recent assessment he has made of the effect on UK trade of the UK leaving the EU single market and the customs union.
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): By leaving the customs union and establishing a new ambitious arrangement with the EU, we will be seeking to maintain as frictionless as possible trade in goods between the UK and the EU, and the freedom to forge trade relations with partners around the world.
Exiting the EU: UK Trade — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What recent assessment he has made of the effect on UK trade of the UK leaving the EU single market and the customs union.
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course, the majority of Scotland’s exports go to the rest of the UK, not the EU. The hon. and learned Lady talks about the value of the single market; it is just worth pointing out that, despite our membership of the single market, we have had a growing trade deficit with the EU at a time when we have had a growing trade surplus with the rest of the world. We want to establish the conditions for all our exports from all parts of the UK to be able to access the growing markets of the world, and, as the International Monetary Fund has pointed out, 90% of global growth in the next 10 to 15 years will be outside Europe.
GREAT Festival of Innovation — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Technology
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): They will indeed be widely represented. For example, UtterBerry, an AI-based infrastructure monitoring technology that has been used in this country in projects such as the Thames tideway and Crossrail, will be showcased. The festival will be an opportunity for us to show off the best of British innovation in general.
Overseas Direct Investment — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Graham Charles Stuart (Conservative, Centre-right): We are making great progress on supporting UK businesses to invest overseas, as this can have a substantial positive effect on the UK economy. The Department for International Trade has developed a suite of products and services that address market failures, to support British businesses.
Overseas Direct Investment — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Graham Charles Stuart (Conservative, Centre-right): My Department’s ODI support pilots have successfully demonstrated the impact that the Government can have in supporting UK businesses to overcome barriers to market access and to expand overseas. By harnessing the private sector wherever possible and focusing Government interventions only on market failures, my Department has successfully supported overseas investment for a range of UK businesses in six global markets.
Trade Deficit: Goods and Services — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): In 2016, the UK had a trade deficit with the EU of £70.97 billion, and a trade surplus of £39 billion with non-EU countries, up from £33.6 billion in 2015. The latest trade figures show that in 2017, the UK’s trade deficit in goods and services narrowed by £7 billion to £33.7 billion.
Trade Deficit: Goods and Services — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
John Henry Hayes (Conservative, Centre-right): Balance of trade figures were once regarded as pivotal. They were even thought to win or lose elections. Given that we are now going to escape from the constraining clutches of the European Union, will my right hon. Friend invest again in old friends and rejuvenate our relationships in the realm with allies such as Australia and New Zealand? What steps has he taken to ensure preferential arrangements with such old allies?
Trade Deficit: Goods and Services — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend asks a very good question. First, I should like to put on record my thanks to him for leading various Government trade delegations in recent years, including one to Colombia. I know that he takes a strong interest in this subject. As I said earlier, we have set up trade working groups with Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and, unlike Opposition Front Benchers, we also voted for the comprehensive economic and trade agreement, the EU’s free trade agreement with Canada. The Secretary of State has been in all four of those markets in the past year, leading efforts to break down trade barriers and to seek new trade agreements.
Trade Deficit: Goods and Services — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Martin John Vickers (Conservative, Centre-right): Last week, as co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Kosovo, I visited a British company in Pristina that has a £20 million investment there. What opportunities does the Minister foresee for widening our trade in goods and services with Kosovo and the neighbouring western Balkan countries?
Trade Deficit: Goods and Services — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): This is a very good opportunity. That is a part of the world that I know well, and I think that the company to which my hon. Friend refers is called Fox Marble—a highly appropriate name for this particular Question Time. It finds top-quality marble in Kosovo for export, and it should be congratulated. In regard to the wider region, we work closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to promote trading opportunities throughout the region.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): My Department has responsibility for export promotion, foreign and outward direct investment, and trade policy. I am delighted to inform the House that my Department has appointed the first three of our network of Her Majesty’s trade commissioners, and Richard Burn, Antony Phillipson and Crispin Simon will serve as trade commissioners for China, North America and south Asia respectively. They will develop and deliver strategies to ensure that we can take full advantage of leaving the European Union, the single market and the customs union.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Atta-Ur-Rehman Chishti (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. What evidence is he seeing for growth in UK manufacturing exports to the wider world? I have just returned from a visit to Pakistan with leading British companies in my role as trade envoy to enhance trading between our two great countries; will the Secretary of State join me in paying tribute to Elin Burns and Matt Lister, our trade experts in Pakistan?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): I pay tribute to all those people. We are seeing a big rise in our manufacturing order books, not least on the back of our strong export performance. In recent times, we have seen the biggest growth in consistent monthly manufacturing numbers for some 30 years. The figures produced by the Office for National Statistics suggest that our exports now represent 30.3% of our exported GDP—the second highest figure on record.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: There is immense potential for growth in bilateral trade and investment between the UK and Israel after we leave the EU. Does the Minister share my hope for yet greater levels of trade with the start-up nation, and will he update the House on the progress being made by the UK-Israel trade working group?
Graham Charles Stuart (Conservative, Centre-right): Britain’s relationship with Israel is stronger than ever, with record levels of bilateral co-operation in trade, investment, science and technology. As my hon. Friend rightly says, the UK-Israel trade working group is making good progress in ensuring continuity in our trading relationships as we leave the EU.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: There is immense potential for growth in bilateral trade and investment between the UK and Israel after we leave the EU. Does the Minister share my hope for yet greater levels of trade with the start-up nation, and will he update the House on the progress being made by the UK-Israel trade working group?; Bearing in mind the upcoming Israel Apartheid Week in universities, of which a boycott of Israel and its products is a big component, will the Minister outline how he intends to enhance trade with Israel for our mutual benefit and offset that destructive campaign by the anti-Israel movement?
Graham Charles Stuart (Conservative, Centre-right): We strongly welcome our ties with Israel, as does the hon. Gentleman. As has just been said, the Department has established a joint trade working group, and we continue to liaise closely with the Israeli Government to strengthen trade, investment and other ties between this country and Israel.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: There is immense potential for growth in bilateral trade and investment between the UK and Israel after we leave the EU. Does the Minister share my hope for yet greater levels of trade with the start-up nation, and will he update the House on the progress being made by the UK-Israel trade working group?; Bearing in mind the upcoming Israel Apartheid Week in universities, of which a boycott of Israel and its products is a big component, will the Minister outline how he intends to enhance trade with Israel for our mutual benefit and offset that destructive campaign by the anti-Israel movement?; Next Friday, I will be attending the COMBEbusiness event, which showcases the brilliant small and medium-sized enterprises in north Devon. What is the Department doing to attract international investment to those businesses, which form the bedrock of the south-west’s economy?
Graham Charles Stuart (Conservative, Centre-right): We work in collaboration with the Heart of the South West local enterprise partnership to attract foreign direct investment into Devon. More widely, the Department works with local enterprise partnerships and local authorities across the south-west to promote inward investment opportunities to foreign-owned companies. In 2016-17, DIT recorded 101 inward investment projects in the south-west, creating 3,402 new jobs.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: There is immense potential for growth in bilateral trade and investment between the UK and Israel after we leave the EU. Does the Minister share my hope for yet greater levels of trade with the start-up nation, and will he update the House on the progress being made by the UK-Israel trade working group?; Bearing in mind the upcoming Israel Apartheid Week in universities, of which a boycott of Israel and its products is a big component, will the Minister outline how he intends to enhance trade with Israel for our mutual benefit and offset that destructive campaign by the anti-Israel movement?; Next Friday, I will be attending the COMBEbusiness event, which showcases the brilliant small and medium-sized enterprises in north Devon. What is the Department doing to attract international investment to those businesses, which form the bedrock of the south-west’s economy?
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): We believe across Government that the simplest way to get to the position that we will be able to enjoy, of leaving the single market and the customs union, is via a transition period that is carefully planned and that gives predictability to business.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: There is immense potential for growth in bilateral trade and investment between the UK and Israel after we leave the EU. Does the Minister share my hope for yet greater levels of trade with the start-up nation, and will he update the House on the progress being made by the UK-Israel trade working group?; Bearing in mind the upcoming Israel Apartheid Week in universities, of which a boycott of Israel and its products is a big component, will the Minister outline how he intends to enhance trade with Israel for our mutual benefit and offset that destructive campaign by the anti-Israel movement?; Next Friday, I will be attending the COMBEbusiness event, which showcases the brilliant small and medium-sized enterprises in north Devon. What is the Department doing to attract international investment to those businesses, which form the bedrock of the south-west’s economy?; Last week, I visited the US as part of a cross-party delegation to discuss the future of financial services, and I was very encouraged by the positive response from a variety of stakeholders. What assessment has the Secretary of State made of the potential for a future UK trade deal with the US?
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): We have four working groups with the United States at the present time, and at the last one we announced a UK-US small and medium-sized enterprise dialogue. My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that the first dialogue on SMEs will take place next month and will involve more than 100 businesses as part of a very constructive process.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: There is immense potential for growth in bilateral trade and investment between the UK and Israel after we leave the EU. Does the Minister share my hope for yet greater levels of trade with the start-up nation, and will he update the House on the progress being made by the UK-Israel trade working group?; Bearing in mind the upcoming Israel Apartheid Week in universities, of which a boycott of Israel and its products is a big component, will the Minister outline how he intends to enhance trade with Israel for our mutual benefit and offset that destructive campaign by the anti-Israel movement?; Next Friday, I will be attending the COMBEbusiness event, which showcases the brilliant small and medium-sized enterprises in north Devon. What is the Department doing to attract international investment to those businesses, which form the bedrock of the south-west’s economy?; Last week, I visited the US as part of a cross-party delegation to discuss the future of financial services, and I was very encouraged by the positive response from a variety of stakeholders. What assessment has the Secretary of State made of the potential for a future UK trade deal with the US?; Further to his earlier answer, does my right hon. Friend agree that the prospects for future trade with our close friend and economic partner India remain very bright?
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, my hon. Friend is right. I mentioned the India trade audit that has just been published. The Secretary of State met his Indian counterpart, Minister Prabhu, during our Joint Economic and Trade Committee meetings in January, and they agreed that bilateral work will now explore addressing barriers in four recommended sectors: food and drink, life sciences, information technology and services.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: There is immense potential for growth in bilateral trade and investment between the UK and Israel after we leave the EU. Does the Minister share my hope for yet greater levels of trade with the start-up nation, and will he update the House on the progress being made by the UK-Israel trade working group?; Bearing in mind the upcoming Israel Apartheid Week in universities, of which a boycott of Israel and its products is a big component, will the Minister outline how he intends to enhance trade with Israel for our mutual benefit and offset that destructive campaign by the anti-Israel movement?; Next Friday, I will be attending the COMBEbusiness event, which showcases the brilliant small and medium-sized enterprises in north Devon. What is the Department doing to attract international investment to those businesses, which form the bedrock of the south-west’s economy?; Last week, I visited the US as part of a cross-party delegation to discuss the future of financial services, and I was very encouraged by the positive response from a variety of stakeholders. What assessment has the Secretary of State made of the potential for a future UK trade deal with the US?; Further to his earlier answer, does my right hon. Friend agree that the prospects for future trade with our close friend and economic partner India remain very bright?; Does my right hon. Friend agree that free trade helps consumers by lowering prices and that free trade has been one of the biggest contributors to combating global poverty over the past 100 years? Will he embrace the opportunities created by Brexit to do free trade deals that will help consumers and British businesses?
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): At the WTO this week, I again made the case for free trade, and the UK is a global champion of free trade. We tend to discuss our trade in terms of producers, but we must always remember that free trade is an enormous benefit to consumers in lowering prices, improving choice and increasing quality. Free trade has also been the route by which we have taken more than 1 billion people on this planet out of abject poverty in the past generation, which we should celebrate.