Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has held bilateral talks on investment and trade at the G20 trade ministers' meeting in Milwaukee, including discussions on expanding Britain's free trade agreement with Turkiye.
The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade attended the gathering in Wisconsin on 30 September and 1 October. Ministers discussed food security, forced labour in supply chains, excess industrial production and international tariff rules.
Bilateral talks with Turkiye and India
According to Turkiye's trade ministry, Reynolds met trade minister Omer Bolat to discuss stronger commercial links, higher investment and deeper business connections. Their talks also covered negotiations to expand the existing free trade agreement - talks that remain under way rather than a newly concluded deal.
Reynolds also met Indian commerce minister Piyush Goyal. Goyal said they reviewed implementation of the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
Uneven multilateral outcome
Sharing photographs from the meeting, Reynolds' department said: "Together at the table, stronger on the world stage."
The wider G20 session produced agreement condemning the use of food and agricultural trade as a tool of political or economic coercion. Consensus was not reached on the US chair's proposed forced-labour statement or on a collective pathway to address excess industrial capacity.
The Milwaukee meeting therefore mixed practical bilateral discussions with an uneven multilateral result: progress on protecting food trade from coercion, but further work needed on other major trading challenges.
