Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has attributed the UK's failure to meet post-Brexit trade targets to a change in US leadership, telling MPs that President Joe Biden's administration had no appetite for trade deals. She said the government missed its manifesto pledge to strike agreements covering 80% of UK trade by the end of 2022, with current free trade deals covering only 60% of overseas trade.
Appearing before the Business and Trade Select Committee on Tuesday, Badenoch stated: 'The biggest thing that had an impact on us reaching that goal was the change in administration from President Trump to President Biden.' She noted that the Biden team declined to pursue trade deals with any country, not just the UK, leading her to pivot towards smaller Memorandums of Understanding, which she acknowledged are not legally enforceable.
Despite these setbacks, Badenoch expressed confidence in reaching a target of £1 trillion in exports by 2030. However, Liam Byrne, chair of the committee, pointed out that the Institute of Directors estimates this requires annual export growth of 3.5%, far above the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast of 0.1% growth. Badenoch declined to label the OBR as wrong but argued its projections are vulnerable to changing economic circumstances.
On the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Badenoch refused to comment on whether the UK would support China or Taiwan joining the bloc. The OBR estimates CPTPP membership will boost UK economic growth by just 0.04% over 15 years, while also projecting that Brexit will leave the economy 4% smaller than if it had remained in the EU.
