HC Deb 03 August 1926 vol 198 cc2778-80
8. Mr. JOHNSTON

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can give figures showing the total exports and re-exports of British goods for each of the past three years; the countries, Dominions and Protectorates to which these exports have been sent; and the values in cumulo and per head of the population sent to each?

9. Mr. RAMSDEN

asked the President of the Board of Trade the countries to which British goods are exported, the population of each foreign country, Dominion, or Colony, and also the value of the produce per head of the population in each of them?

Sir P. CUNLIFFE - LISTER

I will answer these questions together, and as the reply is rather long, the hon. Members will, perhaps, agree to it being circulated in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Mr. JOHNSTON

Can the right hon. Gentleman find it convenient to discriminate between raw materials exported and manufactured goods exported, since it is obvious that our exports to the United States are very largely made up of raw materials, such as rubber, which gives a fictitious appearance to our exports?

Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTER

No, I do not think I could. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will look at the answer I am circulating. I could not give the information up to date, and I rather disagree with him in his deductions as to exports to the United States.

Following is the information promised:

Particulars of our exports and re-exports to the several Empire and foreign countries for each of the past three years are given in Tables IX and X of the "Accounts relating to Trade and Navigation" for January last. There is also published quarterly in the "Board of Trade Journal" the distribution of the export, re-export and import trade of this country by markets showing the relative percentages pre-War and at the most recent date available. The last of these Tables was published in the "Board of Trade Journal" of the 20th May.

The populations of the principal Empire and foreign countries, together with the value of our trade with them in 1923, are shown at the head of the articles on those countries in the "Survey of Overseas Markets," published last year by the Committee on Industry and Trade.

I think it would be of interest to show approximately the value per head of the importing country of the exports from this country; and I will see if I can publish a table giving this information when the next Market Distribution Table is published in the Journal.