HC Deb 15 March 1967 vol 743 cc469-75

6. Mr. Fletcher-Cooke asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the maximum rate of the tariff still imposed by Portugal upon United Kingdom textile products.

The President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Jay)

The rates charged by Portugal on textile products of E.F.T.A. origin vary from nil to 864 Escudos per kilograme (about £5 per lb.). The highest rate applies to a few made-up articles of silk. Most cotton piece goods enter duty free.

Mr. Fletcher-Cooke

Since Portugal is such a low-cost country, as we know to our cost, what is the need for this protection for a member of E.F.T.A. now?

Mr. Jay

I agree that there is something unfair and to some extent unequal in this arrangement, but it is due to the agreement made by the Conservative Government, which the hon. and learned Gentleman supported and which I cannot now legally depart from.

Mr. Arthur Davidson

When can my right hon. Friend tell the House the results of the talks he has had with the Portuguese Minister? Is my right hon. Friend taking a very strong line about imports coming into this country from Portugal?

Mr. Jay

I can say to my hon. Friend neither less nor more than I said yesterday—that, having had these talks, I have every reason to think that imports from Portugal of cotton textiles over this year will be at a lower rate than in recent months.

Mr. Burden

Would not the right hon. Gentleman agree that, irrespective of the present position, if we go into the Common Market and liberalise trade and remove tariff barriers, the same position is likely to occur in the future with other countries and that nothing can be done about this if it is the Government's intention to liberalise trade?

Mr. Jay

That is quite definitely another question.

Mr. J. T. Price

Does not my right hon. Friend understand—I am sure that he does—that the present unfair trading relationship with Portugal is throwing many textile operatives in Lancashire out of work and, if this state of affairs goes on, the position will go from bad to worse? His statement yesterday did very little to relieve the feeling in Lancashire that we are getting the worst of all possible worlds because of the bad arrangements and bad treaties into which we have entered in the past. Cannot my right hon. Friend set about re-negotiating these arrangements to give British industry a chance to have a fair crack of the whip?

Mr. Jay

I am sure that my hon. Friend was glad that I was able at least to make the statement which I did make. It may interest him also to know that last year we exported nearly £4 million worth of textile goods to Portugal.

7. Sir A. V. Harvey asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps are being taken to improve trading conditions of the textile industry in view of heavy imports.

Mr. Jay

This Government have already gone further than any previous Government to limit and stabilise imports. But we cannot isolate the textile industry from changes in the general level of consumer demand. The position should improve as soon as distributors begin to replenish their stocks.

Sir A. V. Harvey

Does not the President of the Board of Trade appreciate that what is happening in Lancashire and parts of Cheshire now is putting many industries in a worse state than they were in 30 years ago? What he said yesterday is all right, but will he take some responsibility and do something himself which will show immediate results to people in the North of England?

Mr. Jay

What we have done is to get agreed a global quota of imports affecting nearly 60 countries, whereas the previous quota affected more nearly six countries. This is a great step forward. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman, who understands these things, realises that in the second half of last year imports were lower than they were in the second half of the previous year.

Mr. Mapp

We acknowledge some easement, slight though it may be, in what my right hon. Friend told us yesterday, but will he take a long-term look at the industry and, having done that, consider an independent inquiry which might look ahead even beyond 1970 to an improved state of affairs in an industry which is at this time recurrently going through crisis after crisis?

Mr. Jay

Yes, Sir; but the global quota of which I spoke lasts until 1970 and, therefore, although it may not be long-term, it is at least medium-term. In addition, we are assisting the Textile Council to carry out a productivity survey in the industry, which will be long-term. I think that that is the right next step.

Mr. Chichester-Clark

Will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind the concern of people in the shirt industry in relation to Portuguese imports, and will he make a statement on this matter as soon as possible so that they may know where they stand?

Mr. Jay

In so far as those imports come from Portugal, they will be covered by the statement I recently made.

Mr. Ronald Atkins

Would it not be wise to start bringing the level of imports into this country into line with the corresponding level in the Common Market countries, with similar status to our own, which import a far smaller proportion of home consumption?

Mr. Jay

It would be far better from the point of view of the developing countries if we could bring the level of imports into the E.E.C. countries more into line with imports into Britain. This is what we are attempting to do through the Kennedy Round and in other ways.

30. Mr. Barnett asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the textile industry.

24. Mr. Hale asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will make a statement on the recent discussions with the Textile Council and on the Government's proposals to assist the textile and man-made fibre industry.

Mr. Jay

As I informed the House yesterday, the Textile Council has, following discussions with me, set up an Imports Commission. As to measures the Government have taken to assist the industry, I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Accrington (Mr. Arthur Davidson) on 8th February.—[Vol. 740, c. 1651.]

Mr. Barnett

Has there been any specific representation from the industry, particularly from mill owners who we know import foreign yarns themselves, against the idea of giving executive powers to the Imports Commission. If not, will my right hon. Friend give a specific pledge that if the present advisory powers are not sufficient, he will give the Commission specific executive powers to stop, control and regulate the import of cotton and synthetic textiles?

Mr. Jay

I am not aware of any such representation from mill owners, but I assure my hon. Friend that I am in favour of this Commission having all executive powers short of the legal powers conferred on my Department by Parliament which I cannot possibly farm out to anyone else.

Mr. Hall-Davis

Does the right hon. Gentleman recognise that, in view of the January import figures, which are an all-time high, what is needed is not information and advice by his Department, but action to implement the pledge he gave to the cotton industry conference in October 1965?

Mr. Jay

These figures were clearly exceptional because of the end of the surcharge and the E.F.T.A. tariffs on 1st January. Since the global quota, covering 60 countries, is on an annual basis, if it increases in one part of the year imports are bound to be fewer in the latter part of the year.

Mr. Thornton

Is it my right hon. Friend's intention to use the Commission as a machine for effectively dealing with quota evasion and price disruption?

Mr. Jay

Yes, I hope that will be one of its important functions, although not the only one.

Mr. Fletcher-Cooke

What is new in the machinery announced by the right hon. Gentleman yesterday? Had not the Textile Council and the Cotton Board before done this work for many years? Was not the announcement merely a declaration of what has been happening for some 10 years or more?

Mr. Jay

I have been asked by many sections of the industry to make this arrangement. If the hon. and learned Gentleman is opposed to it, he is out of tune with opinion in the industry.

44. Mr. Fletcher-Cooke asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that Portuguese exporters of textiles receive a special subsidy on raw cotton grown in Mozambique; and if he will make representations to the Portuguese Government that this breach of international trading practice damages British interests.

Mr. Jay

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Preston, North (Mr. Ronald Atkins) on 8th March.—[Vol. 742, col. 298.]

Mr. Fletcher-Cooke

I have not had the advantage of seeing that reply. If it is not true that it is subsidy, what is the explanation for the extraordinary low cost of Portuguese imports into this country? Is it solely a matter of abysmally low wages, or is there some other explanation?

Mr. Jay

The subsidy to which the hon. and learned Gentleman refers is, so I am informed by the Portuguese Government, a method of ensuring that Portuguese manufacturers who buy from Portuguese territories in Africa at above world prices are put on a level with manufacturers of other countries. The main reason for the low prices of Portuguese textile imports into this country is that the Portuguese industry is technically extremely efficient as well as admittedly paying wages which are much lower than ours.

Mr. Frank Allaun

How can Lancashire compete with wages of 9s. a day in Portugal and 10s. a day in Hong Kong? Can my right hon. Friend do something with the Government of Portugal and through the trade unions of Hong Kong, trade unions not being allowed in Portgual?

Mr. Jay

Many British manufacturers compete successfully in Canada and the United States where wages are very much higher than they are here. However, I should be delighted to see a rise in wages in Portgual and I think that the over- whelming E.F.T.A. movement is in that direction.

47. Mr. Gregory asked the President of the Board of Trade what progress has been made in improving ways in which anti-dumping legislation can be brought into operation on the import of cotton and man-made fibre textiles; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Jay

I have nothing to add to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Louth (Sir C. Osborne) on 8th February. —[Vol. 740, col. 307.]

Mr. Gregory

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the measures announced yesterday will be welcomed by the industry? Is he further aware that there is a great need for these measures to be applied as quickly as possible? In my constituency there have been many closures and we have a handful of mills—

Mr. Speaker

Order. We cannot have speeches at Question Time. Questions must be brief.

Mr. Gregory

Is my right hon. Friend aware of the need to do something to stop this trend?

Mr. Jay

I am actively seeking evidence which would enable us to introduce an anti-dumping order, both from the Textile Council, sections of the industry and our commercial posts abroad. If my hon. Friend has material which would help, I should be very glad to have it.

Mr. Heffer

In relation to the position over Portugal, would my right hon. Friend indicate whether the matter has been discussed with E.F.T.A.? Would he not agree that if we were members of the E.E.C. and accepted the Treaty of Rome, this position would not arise?

Mr. Jay

That arises on the next Question.

48. Mr. Gregory asked the President of the Board of Trade what action he proposes to take, to deal with the disruptively priced imports of condenser yarns on cone, jacquard blankets and flannelette blankets, as referred to in the recent letter and evidence submitted by the hon. Member for Stockport, North; and if he will make a statement.

25. Mr. Hale asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is now in a position to make a statement on recent investigations into excessive textile imports from Portugal and, in particular, of sheeting.

Mr. Jay

I took the opportunity in Stockholm in the week before last to discuss this matter with the Portuguese Government, and I have every reason to expect that the rate of cotton textile exports from Portugal to the United Kingdom this year will be substantially less than in recent months.

Mr. Gregory

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in this instance we are dealing with imported yarns rather than finished products? Can we give some guarantee to the industry to restore confidence and stop the rot?

Mr. Jay

The statement that I have made covers yarns as well as made-up goods.

Mr. Fletcher-Cooke

What are the exact terms of the agreement with the Portuguese Government? Would the right hon. Gentleman lay a White Paper, or some other document, explaining what undertakings he has reached with the Portuguese Government, in what terms and involving what statistics?

Mr. Jay

If I were to elaborate further on this I should do damage to the cause which both the hon. and learned Gentleman and I have at heart.