HC Deb 23 February 1926 vol 192 cc270-1
10. Mr. TREVELYAN THOMSON

asked the President of the Board of Trade the amount of imports and exports of cotton lace and net for the six months preceding and the six months following the imposition of the Safeguarding Duties?

Mr. SAMUEL

The answer is long, and contains a table of figures. Accordingly, the hon. Member will perhaps allow me to have it circulated in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Following is the reply:

The aggregate value of the imports and exports of cotton lace and net during the periods specified has been as follows:

— Jan.-June, 1925. July-Dec. 1925.
£ £
Total Imports 809,100 253,000
Re-exports 629,500 87,600
Net Imports Retained 179,600 165,400
Exports of United Kingdom Manufacture. 1,247,200 1,002,000
The figures of imports and of re-exports include, for the period prior to the imposition of the duty, goods in transit on through bills of lading. Since the imposition of the duty, such transit goods have been, for the most part, transhipped under bond. It has long been the practice to exclude goods transhipped under bond from the general figures of imports and re-exports. Transhipments of lace and lace goods under bond in the period since the imposition of the duty account for a large part of the decreases in recorded imports and re-exports of such goods.

It may be added that the value of any cotton lace imported in postal parcels would appear in the trade accounts under the heading "Parcels Post" prior to the duty and under the heading "Cotton Lace" after that article became subject to duty.