21. Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) in regard to the new regulation that steel certificates for the export of steel or articles manufactured therefrom must be signed by the manufacturer and not by the consignor of the goods as formerly, whether he has considered that this will compel British merchants to divulge to customers abroad their sources of supply, with the result that their customers may in future trade direct with the sources of supply; whether he has considered the fact that this knowledge of markets and sources of supply is one of the most valuable assets of British merchants; whether, in view of these considerations, he will revert to the former practice of permitting consignors to sign the certificates or devise some means whereby the sources of supply need not be divulged to customers; (2) in regard to his instructions that steel certificates for American steel and articles manufactured therefrom in the United States and being exported ex the United Kingdom to British Dominions and India, can only be signed by the actual manufacturers in America, whether he has considered that in fulfilling these conditions British merchants will be compelled to divulge to American manufacturers the ultimate destination of the goods, with the result that the direct market may be captured by American manufacturers; whether he has also considered that such goods may be shipped from America to the Dominions and India direct without any such declaration, and that such consignments are invariably transhipped at Liverpool; whether he has also considered that this regulation 294 imposes a disability upon home merchants selling from existing stocks as compared with merchants carrying no stocks whatever and shipping direct from America; whether he has also considered the fact that a consignor who makes a false declaration may be prosecuted under the Defence of the Realm Act, whereas an American manufacturer who makes a false declaration is outside the jurisdiction of British Courts; whether, in view of these considerations, he will permit certificates to be signed by the consignor; (3) in regard to the new Regulation that steel certificates for the export of steel or articles manufactured therefrom must be signed by the manufacturer and not by the consignor of the goods, whether he has considered the case of a British general merchant receiving a general order from a Colonial buyer for tools of various makers and manufacturers, English and American, say a set of carpenter's tools; whether this merchant would be required to obtain, perhaps, twenty certificates, English and American, for a shipment the total value of which might not exceed £5; and what procedure is to be adopted in such cases?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the BOARD of TRADE (Mr. Pretyman)Representations have been made to the Board of Trade on the points referred to by my hon. Friend, and I am in communication with the War Trade Department with regard to them.