Nigel Huddleston provides update on US trade deal
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Kemi Badenoch today hailed Britain as a “global superpower” in a key sector after new figures showed a record year for services exports. And the Business and Trade Secretary is looking to secure a further boost as she renegotiates the UK’s free trade agreement with Mexico.
Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that UK services exports reached a record high of £397 billion in 2022 – up 20 percent from 2021.
The figures come as Mrs Badenoch is on a two-day trip to Mexico city for negotiations to bring the 20-year-old trade deal with the UK into the digital age in areas such as services.
The Business and Trade Secretary said: “These new figures are a trade success story and cement the UK’s position as a global services superpower.
“Services are the lifeblood of our economy, employing over eight in 10 of our workforce.
“To see services trade reaching these heights is a firm reminder of the resilience of our strong services economy and shows significant progress in our race to export over a trillion pounds of British goods and services a year by 2030.
“I’ll be using my talks with Mexican politicians and UK businesses operating in Mexico to make the case for a revamped UK-Mexico trade deal which will significantly increase export opportunities, and boost jobs around the UK.”
Britain is the second biggest services exporter in the world after the US and the services sector contributes around 80 percent of the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP), the measure of national income.
Mrs Badenoch is also holding talks with counterparts to discuss the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) during her visit to Mexico.
A major post-Brexit opportunity is joining the 11-country bloc made up of Mexico, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
The Department for Business and Trade, which was created this week as part of Rishi Sunak’s Whitehall shake-up, said the UK was “nearing the final stages” of talks to join the £9 trillion GDP trading bloc which stretches across the Indo-Pacific.
Ministers say joining CPTPP could give UK businesses tariff-free access on more than 99 percent of goods that enter a market of around 500 million customers.
Speaking ahead of the two-day visit, which kicked off yesterday, Mrs Badenoch said: “Mexico is a top-20 global economy, and a core member of the exciting trans-Pacific trade bloc.
“I’m here to push progress on two significant post-Brexit wins that will not only benefit British businesses, but also show what the UK has to offer CPTPP countries.
“We will add £2 trillion to the bloc’s GDP when we join, taking it up to 15 percent of the world’s GDP, and will add a strong voice promoting free trade and defending against protectionism on the global stage.”
The Business and Trade Secretary, a rising Tory star, travelled to Mexico from Rome where she signed a new trade partnership to promote investment and exports between the UK and Italy.
Mrs Badenoch, who is popular with the Conservative grassroots and widely seen as a possible future leader, is the first UK Cabinet minister to visit Mexico for almost six years since Dr Liam Fox in 2017.
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