Brexit win! Liz Truss confident UK to ‘double’ £24bn trade benefits with new India deal
Liz Truss outlines planned trade deal with India
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International Trade Secretary Liz Truss told Sky News on Tuesday that she is confident she can “double” trade between Britain and India by 2030. Current trade between the two countries stands at “£24 billion” according to Ms Truss. She said negotiations for a full free trade deal with India will be launched in the autumn and “wins” for each country will be achieved along the way as India pulls itself out of its current Covid crisis and the two countries work out ways to “lower or remove” tariffs in negotiations.
The International Trade Secretary said: “First of all this is a significant announcement.
“It’s going to mean 6,000 new jobs in the United Kingdom including areas like vaccinations.”
She continued by saying: “There are also going to be more opportunities in India because this is about a win-win for both countries it’s about helping India with the immediate covid cirrus but also helping India build back better after the covid crisis.
“We will start negotiations on a full free trade agreement this autumn, of course, free trades take longer, what this is is the immediate gains that what we can get for both countries driving jobs and growth both here in Britain and in Britain.”
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Liz Truss was then asked how quickly Britain can work towards a free trade deal with the South Asian powerhouse.
Ms Truss replied: “We want to launch negotiations in autumn, we want to get those negotiations completed as soon as possible but of course we will be looking for early wins that we can gain… we want to see those tariffs lowered or removed to benefit industries here in Britain.
She added: “India is the world’s largest democracy, it’s a rapidly growing economy, currently our trade is £24 billion – we think we can double that by 2030.
“This is where Britain needs to be – we need to be trading with those fast-growing parts of the world to the benefit of British people right across the country.”
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On Monday, Liz Truss announced a £561m trade deal with Jordan.
In a tweet, the International Trade Secretary said the deal would “build on our £561m trading relationship” and open up “more opportunities for UK businesses”.
She said sectors that stood to benefit hugely from the deal included education, healthcare, biometrics, aviation, retail and technology.
The UK imports metal roes, mechanical power generators, clothing, vegetables and general industrial machinery from Jordan.
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Exports sent to the Middle Eastern nation each year include medicines, pharmaceuticals and cars from Britain.
The new agreement came into effect on Saturday.
James Cleverly, the minister for the Middle East and North Africa, said: “As we celebrate 100 years of UK-Jordan friendship, today’s new UK-Jordan trade agreement is an important step forward for our countries which will provide a boost to British and Jordanian businesses and ensure that friendship continues to grow and flourish.”
The deal is the latest post-Brexit pact to be secured by Britain.
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