53. Captain BENNETTasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what amount of revenue would be produced by an excise duty on motor-cars manufactured in this country equivalent to the existing import duty of 33⅓ per cent.?
§ Mr. P. SNOWDENI regret that I am unable, in the absence of adequate data, to form a reliable estimate. The British Manufacturers' Section of the Society of 1199 Motor Manufacturers and Traders recently put the value of their annual output at£75,000,000. Making certain necessary allowances for export drawbacks and the like, an excise duty at the rate of the existing Customs preferential duty of twenty-two and two-ninths per cent. ad valorem might yield a sum of about£10,000,000. But this estimate is very speculative and conjectural.
Captain BENNETTDoes not my right hon. Friend think that such an arrangement would be at once acceptable to hon. Members on the other side and also give us what we want?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThat is a very hypothetical question.