Brexit: Liz Truss says UK is ‘back on the table’
Truss, which has already closed deals worth more than £ 200bn with third countries around the world since Britain left the bloc, was asked about the possibility of reaching a deal with Beijing during an organized webinar. by the Conservative Home website this week. And he indicated that while a deal was possible, Britain and the West would not ignore the plight of the Uighurs in the west of the country, or the new draconian laws in Hong Kong.
Truss, a Conservative MP from Southwest Norfolk, said: “Of course we have to trade with China.
“Of course, also many of our allies, be it the United States, the EU, Japan, they all trade with China.
“And there are many areas that are not strategic where we need to increase our trade with China and vice versa.
Liz Truss said the UK is “lucid” about a possible trade deal with Xi Jinping’s China (Image: GETTY)
Xi Jinping’s China has recovered strongly after the impact of the coronavirus pandemic last year (Image: GETTY)
“However, we have moved our 5G network to avoid high-risk providers, and we must ensure that we are challenging China’s behavior at the World Trade Organization.”
He added: “There is also the issue of forced technology transfer. There is also the problem of intellectual property violations.
“And those are issues on which Britain should not act alone.
“We should work with allies, including the EU, including the United States, including the CPTPP nations to shape the global rules.
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Liz Truss photographed during her recent trip to India (Image: DTI)
We have clear eyes on China, but of course we have to trade with China.
“So we have clear eyes on China, but of course we have to trade with China and we have to work with our allies to help ensure that China complies with the rules of world trade.”
Conservative Home editor Paul Goodman asked Ms Truss about attempts by the House of Lords to insert an amendment to the Commerce Act passed this year that requires the government to withdraw from any free trade agreement with any country that the High Court finds is committing genocide.
She replied: “It is fundamentally a matter of foreign policy.
“However, the problem is the way the amendment has been formulated muddies the constitutional waters in terms of what is a political decision and what is the decision of the court.
Uighurs demonstrate in front of the Chinese embassy in the Turkish capital of Ankara (Image: GETTY)
Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong (Image: GETTY)
“Of course, we have everything that has been happening in Xinjiang and we have taken strong action against it.
“The issue is the role of Parliament versus the role of the court, so we table an amendment that seeks to give Parliament greater powers to examine and analyze the issue of genocide rather than handing the role over to the UK courts.” .
Speaking to Express.co.uk on the prospect of a UK-China deal, Julian Jessop, an economics fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, told Express.co.uk: “It’s almost impossible to say. But in 2019 the UK’s total trade with China (exports and imports) was worth around £ 80bn.
“A good trade agreement should increase the volume of exports and reduce the price of imports.
Xi Jinping’s Profile (Image: Express)
“If these two benefits together are worth just 10 per cent of today’s trade, that would be a profit of £ 8 billion a year.
“This benefit will grow over time as China becomes an even more important trading partner.
“There could also be other benefits, for example better cooperation in areas such as cross-border investment and data protection.”
China’s exports in February grew at a record pace compared to the previous year, when COVID-19 hit the world’s second-largest economy, customs data showed on Sunday, while imports rose less sharply. .
Julian Jessop said a deal could boost revenue by as much as £ 8bn (Image: Sky News)
Exports in dollars soared 154.9 percent in February compared to the previous year, while imports increased 17.3 percent, the most since October 2018. The data does not include figures for January only.
In the January-February period, exports increased 60.6 percent over the previous year, when closures to contain the pandemic paralyzed the country’s economic activity.
That beat analysts’ forecast in a survey of. from an increase of 38.9 percent.
Strong exports, which benefited from China’s success in largely containing the public health crisis, have helped fuel the country’s recovery from pandemic-induced paralysis.
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