§ 14 Mr. HANNONasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that in the first quarter of 1934 our imports of currants from Greece rose to 106,569 cwts. from 76,328 cwts. in the first quarter of 1933, whilst those from Australia have remained practically stationary; and what steps he proposes to take to assist Australian producers to obtain a larger share of the home market;
(2) whether he is aware of the fact that the imports of tinned and bottled fruit from the United States of America have risen by over 100 per cent. in the first quarter of 1934, as compared with the first quarter of 1933, namely, from
§ A detailed Report showing the products of these new undertakings and certain other particulars, including the towns and areas in which they are situated, together with revised statistics of the factories covered by the similar survey for 1932, will be published next week.
Dr. McLEANWill the right hon. Gentleman call the attention of the Minister of Health and the Secretary of State for Scotland to this survey, as it is of great importance to town-planning schemes and housing schemes of local authorities?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANI have no doubt that my right hon. Friend will see the answer that I have given in reply to the Question.
§ Mr. CHORLTONWill the statement include Lancashire and the cotton trade?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANI should not like to say definitely, as I have not the statement before me at the moment.
§ Following is the table :
§ 232,122 cwts. to 628,641 cwts.; and whether steps will be taken, in view of the fact that we have no trade agreement with the United States of America, to divert this trade to home and Empire sources;
§ (3) whether he is aware that, whilst the imports of maize from British countries in the first quarter of 1933 were 1,485,188 cwts., in the corresponding quarter of this year they have virtually ceased, while at the same time the imports of maize from Argentina have risen from 8,183,886 cwts. to 16,271,872 cwts. over the same periods; whether he can state the cause of this change; and whether he will take steps to re-establish the imports of maize from Empire countries?
131§ 17 and 18. Major PROCTERasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether he is aware that the imports of oats from Russia in the first months of 1934 constituted one-third of the total imports, having risen from 102,148 cwts. in the first three months of 1933 to 486,590 cwts. in the corresponding period of 1934; and whether he will take such steps as will ensure our requirements of imported oats being supplied by British countries;
(2) whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that, in the first quarter of 1934 the imports of Russian wheat amounted to 2,226,000 cwts., as against only 250 cwts. in the corresponding period of 1933, and that imports of wheat from Canada fell from 13,885,000 cwts. to 7,693,000 cwts. over the same periods : and whether he proposes to take any steps to eliminate the dislocation of the market which these fluctuations in the imports of Russian wheat produce?
§ 19 and 20. Mr. GLOSSOPasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether he is aware that the imports of oat products from Canada during January, February and March of 1934 have fallen to 83,999 cwts. from 104,359 cwts. in the corresponding period of 1933, while at the same time foreign imports have risen from 29,316 cwts. to 77,000 cwts. in the same periods; and whether he is prepared to take any steps to rectify this state of affairs in favour of the Dominions;
(2) whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that imports of meat from the United States of America rose in value from £628,310 in the first quarter of 1933 to £1,016,751 in the corresponding quarter of 1934; and, in view of the serious situation with regard to meat and to the fact that we have no agreement with the United States of America in respect of imports from that country, will he take steps to give Empire countries the opportunity of obtaining this market?
§ 21. Mr. WHITESIDEasked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the fact that the imports of foreign barley in the first quarter of 1934 stood at 4,253,280 cwts., as compared with 1,764,632 cwts. in the corresponding period of 1932; and whether steps will be taken to divert this 132 influx of foreign barley to British and Empire producers?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANI am aware of the figures to which attention is directed, but I would point out that it is often misleading to consider by themselves statistics relating to specific and limited periods and to specific countries. As an illustration of this fact I may mention that in the case of wheat, imports from Canada increased from 7,165,342 cwts. in the first three months of 1932 to 13,885,000 during the same period of 1933; in the case of oats, the increased imports from Soviet Russia in the first three months of 1934 are more than offset by the reduced imports from Argentina in the same period. As regards maize, the surplus available for export in Empire countries from the 1933 crops was unusually small, owing in the main to a short crop in the Union of South Africa.
Considerably increased duties were imposed in January last on imports of oats and oat products from foreign countries, and in the case of most of the other commodities mentioned, Empire countries have the benefit of either free entry or preferential duties. While no favourable opportunity will be lost of developing inter-Imperial trade, I could not contemplate discriminatory action against the produce of particular countries merely because imports from those countries happened to show an increase in a particular period.
§ Mr. HANNONWhile thanking my right hon. Friend for his comprehensive reply to a series of questions, may I ask him whether the Board of Trade will carefully watch all cases in which increased imports of competing commodities from foreign countries are affecting our trade and take appropriate action at the right time?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANWe are watching these movements carefully and I need not remind the hon. Member that the Ira-port Duties Advisory Committee are also easily stirred on this matter.
§ Mr. HERBERT WILLIAMSHave the Import Duties Advisory Committee any concern with the matter referred to in Question 20—the imports of meat? What steps have been taken in that direction?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANI cannot add to the full reply I have given.
§ Mr. GLOSSOPIs it not a fact that these increasing imports from foreign 133 countries make it difficult to get the Dominions to restrict their imports of agricultural products? Would not a reduction of imports from foreign countries and an increase from the Dominions give a much better chance of helping agriculturalists in this country?
§ Major PROCTERThe right hon. Gentleman says that he is watching the situation. That is exactly what Nero said.