§ 12. Mr. Profumoasked the President of the Board of Trade to what extent international agreements prevent the 8 United Kingdom from cutting out altogether imports of fondant and sugar-fat mixtures from foreign countries.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftWe have obligations under the O.E.E.C. Liberalisation Code and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade not to administer import restrictions so as to cause unnecessary damage to the commercial and economic interests of other countries. However, these obligations quite apart, in determining the level of our import of particular commodities, we obviously must have regard as a practical matter to the desirability of admitting certain quantities in the interests of our general commercial relations with foreign countries. We have in fact already cut imports of fondant from foreign countries from about £8 million in 1951 to a rate of approximately £3 million in the first quarter of this year.
§ Mr. ProfumoWould my right hon. Friend not agree that as we now have to meet our E.P.U. deficits in gold, and assuming that we are taking what sugar we can get from Empire sources, it would be very much cheaper for us if we were to buy real sugar from Cuba for dollars? As regards G.A.T.T.—the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade—is my right hon. Friend not aware that the American slang expression for a revolver is a "gatt," and is it not high time that this highly dangerous weapon was removed and prevented from threatening our trade?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftI was in fact basing my answer not on the terms of international trading agreements so much as the practical desirability of not stopping all imports to this country because, if we do, we shall not be able to export. I really think that practical side must be borne in mind.