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Ministers have insisted the West Midlands will benefit from a controversial new trade deal with the United States.

Exports from the region could grow by £1.4 billion a year, mainly because the treaty will provide a boost to the automotive sector, said Business Minister Lord Livingston.

But he rejected calls for the NHS to be excluded from the planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), saying the deal posed no threat to health services.

The Department for Business has launched a campaign to promote the benefits of the TTIP following a wave of criticism from MPs and unions.

Vocal opponents of the deal include Birmingham MP Roger Godsiff (Lab Hall Green), who argues that it poses a severe threat to the UK’s public services and could lead to a relaxation of regulations governing workplace safety, food hygiene, workers’ rights and environmental protection.

The EU and the US began detailed negotiations in 2013 and the aim is to increase transatlantic trade partly by getting rid of tariffs and agreeing common rules and regulations, so that products made in one continent can be exported to the other without requiring significant changes.

A practical example highlighted by the Government is the dashboard light used to show that a car handbrake is on. In a British car this would be an exclamation mark in a red circle but in the US the light shows the letter P, for ‘park’.

Eliminating these differences will make trade with the US much easier, in particular for small businesses, ministers say.

The TTIP would also ensure we have similar rules on how governments buy products or services from the private sector, and similar rules regarding employee rights and protecting the environment.

But trade unions fear that common employment laws will mean European workers have less protection than they do now and warn that the treaty could lead to privatisation of the NHS.

But Lord Livingston insisted the treaty would help the economy grow and create jobs.

The West Midlands would benefit because agreeing common standards with America will increase production of motor vehicles in the UK by an estimated seven per cent, according to the Department for Business.

Lord Livingston said: “This is a very big prize, removing most tariffs so that more companies will be able to trade with the United States. We are trying to bring standards together, not reduce them,” he said.

But he confirmed the Government had rejected calls for the NHS to be excluded specifically from the treaty.

MP Mr Godsiff said: “I don’t believe him. It’s as simple as that.

“I think it’s a very dangerous treaty, and of course once you sign the thing you are bound by it lock stock and barrel.

“It’s no good afterwards turning round and saying we made a mistake because the answer’s going to come back: ‘you signed it’.”