Trade Balance (Hansard, 10 June 1974)

§ 1. Mr. Carter
asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will make a statement on Great Britain's current trading position.

§ The Secretary of State for Trade and President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Peter Shore)
The figures up to April show that the worsening caused by increases in the price of oil had been partly offset by improvement in the balance of trade in other goods.

§ Mr. Carter
My right hon. Friend will be aware that a large part of our current trade deficit is with the rest of the EEC. Does he think that that is a permanent or temporary situation? Further, will he tell the House why the much prophesied export boom consequent upon Britain's entry into the Community has not yet come about?

§ Mr. Shore
My hon. Friend has made a fair point. There is a massive British trade deficit with the EEC. That deficit stands in sharp contrast to the confident expectations which were held some two years ago about how our trade with the EEC would benefit and improve. I now turn to the longer-term prospects. I hope that our visible trade with the EEC and 1198 with all other trading areas will improve now that the general strength of demand in the economy has been regulated. There is now a considerable possibility of increasing our exports to all markets.

§ Mr. Peter Walker
Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that last year, unlike what was suggested by his hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Mr. Carter), exports to the Common Market rose by 37 per cent. compared with a rise of exports to the rest of the world of 26 per cent., and that now nearly a third of our exports goes to the Community?

§ Mr. Shore
The right hon. Gentleman should know better than that. Our exports to the Common Market rose last year, but what the right hon. Gentleman should know, and what he so persistently ignored when he had ministerial responsibilities, is that our imports rose even faster. Our deficit with the EEC grew from £500 million in 1972 to over £1,000 million in 1973.