34. Mr. Enrollasked the President of the Board of Trade what is the average total monthly steel export to all countries; and what percentage of that total is represented by exports to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and to Canada, respectively.
Mr. H. WilsonI am not quite sure what the hon. Member would include in the term "steel." But if he has in mind "finished steel," that is, figures taken from Groups IIIC and IIIS of the Trade Returns after making the appropriate exclusions, then these exports averaged 174,000 tons in January to April, 1950, of which exports to Canada represented 3.9 per cent. and to the Soviet Union 0.008 per cent.
§ Captain RyderMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman how it was he told us on 1st May that Canada could not take all the steel he offered to her, whereas on 20th April he said we should have liked 2225 to send more steel to Canada but the trouble was that the industry was not doing enough to meet our requirements here? Is that an example of his statistical ability?
Mr. WilsonThe statement on 20th April related to a period at the end of the war when we were not able to send all the steel we wanted because of our limited supplies. My statement in the Debate on Anglo-Canadian Trade related to what we were doing in the concluding months of 1949 and what we were in a position to do in 1950. The whole position is somewhat different compared with that of a year or two ago.