11. Major THOMASasked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the present national emergency, he will arrange to issue the figures of imports and exports weekly instead of monthly until such time as the balance of trade becomes favourable to this country?
§ 13. Mr. HALL-CAINEasked the President of the Board of Trade whether, pending the introduction of legislation to deal with dumping, ho will consider the issue of weekly statistics with regard to each principal type of import into this country?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANMy hon. Friends will appreciate that statistics of imports and exports relating to such a short period as one week would be liable to give a misleading impression of the course of trade, and, accordingly, I am unable to adopt their suggestions, which, I may add, would involve considerable expense.
§ Mr. HANNONWill the right hon. Gentleman consider the advisability of having fortnightly instead of monthly statements?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANI am afraid that it would add very considerably to our work, and I do not think it would give us the necessary data.
Major THOMASIs the right hon. Gentleman taking steps at the present time to have the statement sent to him much more frequently than has been the case in the past?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANYes, Sir. I gather the information day by day, but I cannot get it complete. Unless it is complete it would not serve the purpose which my hon. Friends have in view.
§ 14. Sir WILLIAM DAVISONasked the President of the Board of Trade what was the value of the exports and imports between this country and Denmark, the Argentine, the United States of America, and Russia, respectively, during the year 1930?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANAs the answer involves a tabular statement, I will, with my hon. Friend's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Sir W. DAVISONCan the right hon. Gentleman reply to the last part of the question? What was the value of the exports and imports between this country and Russia?
| The following TABLE shows the Total Declared Value of Merchandise Imported into and Exported from the United Kingdom in the trade with Denmark, the Argentine Republic, the United States of America and the Soviet Union, respectively, during the year 1930. | |||
| Country of Consignment. | Total Imports. | Exports. | |
| Produce and Manufactures of the United Kingdom. | Imported Merchandise. | ||
| £ | £ | £ | |
| Denmark (including the Faroe Islands) | 54,117,596 | 10,248,522 | 741,668 |
| Argentine Republic | 56,665,769 | 25,234,173 | 442,006 |
| United States of America | 153,496,858 | 28,704,944 | 11,228,671 |
| Soviet Union | 34,235,002 | 6,771,946 | 2,519,355 |