§ 24. Sir J. Duncanasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish a table showing the imports of flax goods for the past three years and the countries of origin.
§ Sir D. EcclesYes, Sir. With permission, I will publish the figures in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Sir J. DuncanCan my right hon. Friend say off the cuff whether the figures show that there have recently been increased imports from behind the Iron Curtain? If there have been such increases, will he keep a watch on them to see whether it may be necessary, in order to protect the home flax trade, that some anti-dumping duty should be imposed?
§ Sir D. EcclesI will look at the matter, but it appears that imports from Hungary have risen while those from Czechoslovakia have fallen.
§ The following are the figures:
| UNITED KINGDOM IMPORTS OF FLAX MANUFACTURES | ||||
| £'000 | ||||
| — | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | |
| Total of which: | … | 864.2 | 928.2 | 806.0 |
| Irish Republic | … | 120.9 | 120.5 | 110.8 |
| India | … | 24.3 | 20.2 | 1.8 |
| Hong Kong | … | 127.2 | 174.3 | 138.7 |
| Belgium | … | 124.1 | 98.0 | 168.5 |
| France | … | 204.4 | 24.5 | 52.0 |
| West Germany | … | 8.4 | 19.4 | 25.6 |
| Italy | … | 16.2 | 10.1 | 12.1 |
| Hungary | … | 29.2 | 48.2 | 62.7 |
| Czechoslovakia | … | 12.1 | 89.2 | 43.6 |
| Madeira | … | 55.5 | 36.9 | 18.1 |
| U.S.A. | … | 19.2 | 29.1 | 7.4 |
| China | … | 21.9 | 47.4 | 60.4 |
§ 25. Sir J. Duncanasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that, as the result of the recent £5,000,000 loan to the Sudan by Her Majesty's Government, which was made without strings, that Government has ceased to buy flax goods from its traditional suppliers in Great Britain and is buying these goods from behind the Iron Curtain at prices with which British firms cannot compete; and whether he will ask the Sudan Government to continue to buy these goods from their traditional suppliers rather than go to new ones.
§ Sir D. EcclesNo, Sir; the £5 million will all be spent on United Kingdom 611 goods and should help, not hinder, United Kingdom exporters. There have been some difficulties about import licences into the Sudan for flax goods, and I am having inquiries made.
§ Sir J. DuncanI welcome the latter part of my right hon. Friend's reply, but may I ask whether he is aware that information is available to me to show that the Sudan is buying Hungarian flax goods at what amounts to a dumping price, supporting a new supplier instead of, as in the days gone by, the traditional supplier? Will my right hon. Friend see what he can do to help?
§ Sir D. EcclesYes; I should be glad to have that information.