HC Deb 27 October 1953 vol 518 cc2609-10
38. Mr. Swingler

asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps he has taken since the signature of the armistice agreement in Korea to expand trade between the United Kingdom and China.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade (Mr. Henry Strauss)

Her Majesty's Government's policy of encouraging trade with China in non-strategic goods has been stated on many occasions. Any expansion in this trade depends essentially upon the trade policy of the Chinese Peoples' Government, and there are, in present circumstances, no steps which Her Majesty's Government can usefully take.

Mr. Swingler

Can the hon. and learned Gentleman say how far in this matter he is bound by the secret agreements of the Paris Committee which administered the Battle Act, and why it is that German and French manufacturers are exporting steel products and Japanese manufacturers are exporting chemicals and coal tar products which British manufacturers are forbidden by the embargo to export?

Mr. Strauss

Without accepting the allegations which the hon. Member has just made, I could not give him the information he desires.

Mr. Swingler

If I send the Parliamentary Secretary evidence of the fact, which has already been published in many trade journals, that Japanese, German and French manufacturers are exporting these products while he is forbidding export licences to British manufacturers, will he make a statement on the matter?

Mr. Strauss

I am sure that my right hon. Friend will consider any evidence that the hon. Gentleman chooses to submit.

Mr. H. Wilson

Since the special embargo on Chinese trade related to Chinese aggression in Korea, and since a truce has been signed for a matter of some three months now, will the hon. and learned Gentleman say what is stopping the expansion of the trade in some of the less harmful strategic goods? Is it pressure from some of our partners in the United Nations, President Syngman Rhee. or who?

Mr. Strauss

I think that question was fully dealt with in answer to a previous Question. It is premature to say what the effect of the truce will be.