§ 21. Mr. Holtasked the President of the Board of Trade, in view of the recent announcement of Messrs. Courtaulds Limited to build a new rayon staple fibre unit on the Humber to produce 100 million pounds weight annually, what assurances he has given to this firm that they will be granted import licences for the extra amount of chemical pulp that will be required; and what is the import duty on this raw material.
Mr. AmoryNone, Sir; but I have no doubt that any application will be considered as sympathetically as our balance of payments position at the time permits. There is no duty on imports of wood pulp.
§ 22. Mr. Holtasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will now lift all licensing restrictions on the importation of chemical pulp to the paper industry.
Mr. AmoryI regret that our balance of payments position does not yet allow us to dispense with the quantitative restrictions on imports of chemical or other types of pulp for paper making.