§ 25. Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERasked the President of the Board of Trade when the further meeting of the signatories of the Tariff Truce will take place; whether His Majesty's Government are free at such a meeting to give 1610 notice of their refusal to be bound by the Tariff Truce; and what action His Majesty's Government intend to take at the said meeting?
§ Mr. W. GRAHAMThe date for the further meeting has not yet been fixed and it is not expected that it will be so fixed until the negotiations which are being initiated are under way. The answer to the second part of the question is in the affirmative, but as regards the action which His Majesty's Government may decide to take, I can only say that they will be largely guided by such evidence as may then be available as to the readiness or otherwise of the foreign countries concerned to reduce the tariff obstacles which at present restrict our trade.
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERWill the right hon. Gentleman give an undertaking that he will state in this House what this policy will be before he goes to Geneva and gives it before other countries:
§ Mr. GRAHAMI have already made so many announcements on this subject that I cannot promise my right hon. Friend any new material. I cannot pledge myself as to a debate, but, if questions are put down, I shall always be happy to tell the House exactly what I propose to do in the event of another visit to Geneva.
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERAs the right hon. Gentleman has now said that this country is free to take a new decision, all I am asking him at this moment is whether he will give an undertaking to inform the House of Commons what new decision he is going to take before he announces that decision at Geneva.
§ Mr. GRAHAMThat is my difficulty. The new decision was one to negotiate, not so much by groups of commodities, as by groups of countries, and I have already announced that to the House.
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERAs the right hon. Gentleman has said that he is to take and to announce at Geneva a decision whether this country will or will not be bound by the Tariff Truce, will he undertake before he makes the announcement at Geneva to tell this House whether the country will be bound?
§ Mr. GRAHAMMy right hon. Friend has apparently in mind some position which would arise after these negotiations had made certain progress. I have not the least doubt that the House will be informed without delay. I cannot give a specific pledge, but I would ask the House to believe that I will tell hon. Members everything at all stages and at the earliest possible moment regarding the proposals.
§ 28 and 29. Mr. HANNONasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) what is the next step he proposes to take following upon the proposal of the British Government, formulated at the second International Conference with a view to concerted economic action at Geneva, that customs duties are to be reduced by taking groups of commodities and proceeding by stages; if any group of commodities has yet been determined; and if any contemplated stage has yet been reached;
(2) if, following upon the recent tariff negotiations at Geneva, he will indicate the States which, while retaining their tariff autonomy, are prepared to pursue a liberal commercial policy, also those countries which propose to maintain a protectionist regime while remaining subject to the most-favoured-nation clause; and if he anticipates any early change in the policy of either group of States?
§ Mr. W. GRAHAMI would refer the hon. Member to the statement I made on 9th December in reply to questions by the hon. and gallant Members for East Lewisham (Sir A. Pownall) and Dulwich (Sir F. Hall) in which I explained the action which it was proposed to take following on the Conference held at Geneva in November. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of this statement, to which I am now in a position to add that lists of our desiderata in regard to tariff reductions have recently been sent to the Governments of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Poland and Switzerland. It is not possible for me at present to forecast the nature of the replies that we are likely to receive to these proposals or to indicate which States are prepared to adopt a more liberal commercial policy and which are not.
§ Mr. HANNONWill the right hon. Gentleman indicate the groups of commodities he has in mind?
§ Mr. GRAHAMI have already explained to the House that on that point there has been a change. The commodities in view were machinery and textile goods, but the present proposals are to negotiate rather by groups of countries over a whole range of articles.
§ Captain CROOKSHANKWould it be true to say that this country and the Government have now got a liberal policy?