31. Air Commodore Harveyasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will take steps to reduce the present minimum of £2,000 in respect of duty-free imports of machinery to £500.
§ Mr. LowNo, Sir, for the reasons stated by my right hon. Friend in his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for St. Marylebone (Sir W. Wakefield) on 28th February last.
Air Commodore HarveyYes, but does my right hon. Friend realise that the reply given by the President was a very unsatisfactory one, and that the minimum rate for importing this machinery hits small businesses hard? If we want to encourage small industries, we must give them equal facilities to obtain modern machinery. Will my right hon. Friend give an assurance that this matter will be considered?
§ Mr. LowThe matter was very closely considered by the Wilson Smith Committee, which went into the whole question of the duty-free licensing of imported machinery, and which recommended that there was no other way of limiting the cost of the administration of 943 the scheme than that of imposing a comparatively high minimum value. As the House will remember, my right hon. Friend accepted the whole of that Report, and this was an important part of it. While he was considering it he was, on account of the importance of the small businesses, reluctantly forced to the conclusion that he would have to accept this part as well as the rest of the Report.
§ Dr. KingIs the right hon. Gentleman not aware that this minimum hits hard the little industrialists, and that chambers of trade in this country are urging the Government to reduce the minimum to £500?
§ Mr. LowI am aware of that. All these matters have been taken into account, and they were taken fully into account by the Wilson Smith Committee, which consisted of a large number of responsible industrialists.
Air Commodore HarveyI am very sorry, but I shall have to give notice that I shall raise this matter again at the earliest opportunity.