§ 55. Mr. DINGLE FOOTasked the President of the Board of Trade whether any arrangement has yet been reached with the visiting Brazilian delegation as regards the granting of exchange for British goods cleared prior to the 11th February, 1935?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANThe negotiations which have been proceeding with the Brazilian Financial Mission in regard to the liquidation of the Brazilian frozen trade debts to the United Kingdom have resulted in the formulation of certain proposals. The Brazilian Minister of 2124 Finance is returning to Brazil, and has undertaken to place these proposals before his Government, with a view to obtaining the necessary authorisation for the definitive signature of an agreement. It is hoped that this agreement will be signed during the course of the next four weeks, and the text will be published immediately thereafter.
I take this opportunity of informing the House that, as regards current trade, the Brazilian Government have provided by law that the exchange required to pay for goods imported after 11th February, 1935, Can be bought freely on the market, and accordingly no further arrears due to exchange restrictions in respect of imports should arise. As part of this policy the Brazilian Government will maintain the payments under the commercial arrears agreement of 1933 and the payment of the public debt service, in 'accordance with the plan of February, 1934, by retaining a percentage of the foreign exchange resulting from all exports. Finally, the mission have assured us that it is the intention of the Brazilian Government to maintain these existing arrangements in force.
The mission raised the question of the trade relations between the United Kingdom and Brazil, and the United Kingdom Government made it clear that they have every desire to see the trade between the two countries develop on the basis of a mutually beneficial exchange of goods and services.
§ Mr. FOOTWould the right hon. Gentleman further say whether the agreement reached in the matter of exchange with Brazil will apply to goods cleared at any time previous to 11th February, 1935, or only to goods cleared since April, 1934?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANIt would be more convenient if my hon. Friend put that question on the Paper. It is rather a delicate matter, and I prefer to be careful in my reply.