Department_for_International_Trade

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade

Defunct department of the UK Government

The Department for International Trade (DIT)[1] was a department of the United Kingdom Government, from July 2016 to February 2023. It was responsible for striking and extending trade agreements between the United Kingdom and foreign countries, as well as for encouraging foreign investment and export trade.[2]

Quick Facts Formed, Preceding department ...

DIT's purpose was to develop, coordinate and deliver a new trade policy for the United Kingdom, including preparing for and then negotiating free trade agreements and market access deals with non-EU countries.

The final Secretary of State for International Trade, was Kemi Badenoch.[2] On 7 February 2023, the department was merged in a reshuffle with parts of the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to form the new Department of Business and Trade. Badenoch became Secretary of State for Business and Trade.[3]

The department was scrutinised by the International Trade Select Committee.

History

The entrance to the Department for International Trade's headquarters off Whitehall, Central London

The department was created by former Prime Minister Theresa May, shortly after she took office on 13 July 2016, following the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union.[4] It took on the responsibilities of UK Trade & Investment, which was previously operated by both the Foreign Office and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; it also took on the latter's other relevant trade functions, as well as responsibility for UK Export Finance.[5] In doing so, the department can trace its institutional history back to the longstanding Department of Trade and Industry (1970-2007), itself formed from a merger of the Board of Trade with the short-lived Ministry of Technology in 1970.

The Board of Trade was the government body, arising from the Privy Council with historic responsibility for British commerce and industry. When the UK joined the European Economic Community in 1973, the Board lost most of its powers and responsibilities, which had become a competencies of the EEC, later the European Union. Nevertheless, the Board persisted as a dormant institution whose presidency remained a subsidiary title of the Secretary of State with responsibilities for trade. In 2017 the Board was reconstituted as an advisory body, designed to engage with the whole of the UK on the UK’s global trade and investment agenda, with a focus on promoting the UK regions as destinations to trade and do business with.[6] The Board's president remains the Secretary of State for International Trade, who by virtue of their membership of the Privy Council, is the only member. Advisors to the Board include industry leaders, academics, junior ministers in the Department for International Trade, and the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The reports of the Board of Trade are an important form of policy direction for the Department for International Trade.

By February 2017, the department employed about 200 trade negotiators.[7]

The department was dissolved on 7 February 2023, and its functions and personnel transferred to the new Department for Business and Trade.[citation needed]

Ministers

The final roster of Ministers in the Department for International Trade were as follows:[8]

More information Minister, Rank ...

The role of Minister of State for International Trade was downgraded, soon after Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister in October 2022, to the more junior rank of Parliamentary Under-Secretary. At the same time, Kemi Badenoch's assumption of the role of Minister for Women and Equalities saw the appointment of two additional Parliamentary Under-Secretaries to support this additional portfolio. Badenoch retained the portfolio for Women and Equalities when the department was dissolved and merged.

Trade remedies

After Britain left the EU, the Trade Remedies Investigations Directorate (TRID) of the Department for International Trade was created to investigate whether new trade remedies are needed to prevent injury to UK industries caused by unfair trading practices and unforeseen surges in imports. These remedies usually take the form of additional duties on those imports.[16]

Following Royal Assent of the Trade Act 2021[17] TRID became an independent arms-length body, the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA), on 1 June 2021.[18] The Authority is based in Reading.[19]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Department for International Trade". GOV.UK. GOV.UK. 28 July 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  2. [2]
    "About us - Department for International Trade". GOV.UK. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  3. [3]
    Crerar, Pippa; Elgot, Jessica (7 February 2023). "Rishi Sunak appoints Greg Hands as Conservative party chair in cabinet mini-reshuffle". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  4. [4]
    CSW and Politics Home staff (13 July 2016). "Theresa May signals Whitehall rejig with two new Cabinet posts". Civil Service World. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  5. [5]
    "Machinery of Government Changes:Written statement - HCWS94". UK Parliament. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  6. [6]
    "Board of Trade". GOV.UK. UK Government. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  7. [7]
    Trading places / Negotiating post-Brexit deals. Economist, February 4th-10th 2017, page 25
  8. [8]
    "Our ministers". GOV.UK. UK Government. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  9. [9]
    "Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade". GOV.UK. UK Government. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  10. [10]
    "Minister for Women and Equalities". GOV.UK. UK Government. Retrieved 17 November 2022. Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
  11. [11]
    "Minister of State (Minister for Trade Policy)". GOV.UK. UK Government. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  12. [12]
    "Minister of State (Minister for Investment)". GOV.UK. UK Government. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  13. [13]
    "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for International Trade)". GOV.UK. UK Government. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  14. [14]
    "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Exports)". GOV.UK. UK Government. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  15. [15]
    "GREAT campaign drives growth across the four corners of the UK". GOV.UK. 30 September 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022. Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
  16. [16]
    "About us". GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  17. [17]
    "Historic Trade Act becomes law". GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  18. [18]
    "About us". GOV.UK. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  19. [19]
    Trade Remedies Authority, Contact the Trade Remedies Authority, accessed 26 September 2022
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