International Trade Secretary Liz Truss is up in front of @CommonsIntTrade now, discussing UK trade policy and negotiations - a thread with some highlights to follow...

Interestingly Truss is starting with a statement ahead of questions from MPs

On deals with third countries, she says "No deal is better than a bad deal. We are not going to rush into a deal, and there is no deadline."

Truss: the US talks a good game on free trade, but the reality is that a number of UK products have been kept unfairly out of their market - steel and car tariffs, lamb ban, high tariffs on ceramics, 'Buy America' procurement policy etc.

Truss: "I am not going to strike a trade deal with the US unless all these points are dealt with."

This is quite tough talk!

Food standards. "When it comes to food, we will never lower our standards in order to get a trade deal." Ban on chlorine chicken is already in UK law. UK will not sign an FTA that leaves the farm industry, with its high animal welfare standards, worse off.

Japan FTA: "I am very clear that we won't be bounced into a deal that is not in British interests"

[Had to pause and am now few mins behind]

Truss is now asked if DIT is set to go the same way as DfID, aka being rolled into the FCO.

No straight answer. Truss says she thinks foreign and trade policy should be joined up and that she has been working closely with Raab

More: Truss also said PM is clear that DIT remains, and that she isn't focused on precise structure of Whitehall, she is focused on getting good deals.

An important question from Tory MP Robert Courts on the relationship between CPTPP accession and bilateral agreements with individual partners - which comes first?

Truss says she expects bilateral agreements with Australia, NZ and Japan will be in place first.

Truss highlights "geostrategic" benefits of joining CPTPP, as well as economic benefits, such as helping set new global standards in future growth areas such as data and digital.

Slightly tiresome back-and-forth about the potential GDP hit from Brexit/gain from FTAs.

Truss does make a good point here though - new FTAs not just about direct boost to GDP, but also about "protecting us from a high-tariff world".

Truss adds that current economic analyses are a scoping exercise, based on hypothetical deals that aren't yet negotiated. Updated analyses will be published when deals are actually struck.

Explaining UK trade priorities, Truss says:

US and Japan rationale is economic size (1st and 3rd largest economy in the world)

Australia and NZ are key allies, committed to free trade, and potential gateway to Asia-Pacific

Adds that partners for consideration in "phase two" of UK trade negotiations (phase one is US/Japan/Australia and Nz) include:

India
Gulf Countries
Mercosur

(Am assuming the above are in a separate category to trade continuity agreements with EU partners, which are still very important - think Norway, Canada, Turkey...)

Truss asked to comment on the reported "dual tariff" proposal

Says "I will not allow our farmers with their high standards to be undercut by unfair competition", but won't comment further on strategy given ongoing negotiations.

Truss: UK and US negotiators have been through all the key areas and are now beginning to lay proposed FTA text. But detailed discussions on market access on rules of origin are yet to come.

US negotiations: UK seeking an advanced financial services chapter in the FTA, there is also separate work going on between HMT and US Treasury on regulatory co-operation

Truss: Anything imported into the UK will have to meet UK import standards (NB that's product standards, not production standards)

Adds that she is a big supporter of country-of-origin labelling

Another good question: how will a UK-Japan FTA differ from the EU-Japan EPA?

Truss highlights going further on digital and data, plus more UK access on agriculture.

(To my knowledge Japan would be interested in the former, less so the latter)

More from Truss on departmental shenanigans:

Development and foreign policy sharing a united approach makes sense. Trade policy is different because it is a new area for the UK. Speculation should be ignored.

How does the Government's 'Project Defend' relate to their championing of free trade?

Truss: Project Defend is about understanding UK's supply chains. "The answer to resilience isn't autarky" - that actually makes you less resilient. Diversifying trade *helps* resilience.

Truss: "supply chains worked pretty well" during the peak of the Coronavirus crisis - fears of supply-side food shortages etc didn't arise.

Truss on ISDS: "we don't want to be in a position where overseas corporations are able to tide roughshod over UK law" and "I don't want to sign anything that will hamper our right to regulate".