§ 16. Mr. Edwin Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will give the number of Japanese cars imported into the United Kingdom over each of the past 10 years and the value of such imports in sterling; and if he will also give comparable figures for British cars exported to Japan.
§ Mr. ShoreI shall have the detailed figures for which my hon. Friend has asked circulated in the Official Report. They show a large and increasing adverse balance in our car trade.
§ Mr. WainwrightDoes my right hon. Friend agree that the figures will most likely prove that for every car exported to Japan from this country at least 50 cars are imported? Is he quite certain that dumping is not taking place? What is the latest evidence that he has received from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders on this issue? What action will he take in the near future to ensure that the British motor car industry is able to supply cars in this country and not allow Japanese cars to come in? If cars can be produced in Japan and shipped to this country to compete with cars produced here, some fiddling must be taking place.
§ Mr. ShoreMy hon. Friend will know that we have been considering the charge of dumping and there has been an investigation. But the Japanese success in the British market has been due first to the unparalleled opportunities which they had for selling in this country in the 1972–74 period when British supplies were curtailed and limited, and secondly to the fact that in the last year or so the type of car which the Japanese have been selling tends to be of the small variety and, therefore, has a particular attraction in these days of much higher fuel costs. Those are advantages which the Japanese have. We cannot blink the fact or try to dismiss the Japanese success on the ground that they are trading unfairly. If I were to hear evidence of that, I should act on it. The problem is the more serious 1285 one of the present strong competitiveness of the Japanese car industry.
§ Mr. RidsdaleIs it not a fact that the French and German industries are looking after their home markets much better than we are looking after ours and, therefore, Japanese imports into Germany and France are not nearly as high as they are into this country? The salvation of our car industry against Japanese imports depends on our own industry and not on the Japanese.
§ Mr. ShoreI have no doubt that the salvation of the British car industry lies basically with the British car industry. If our industry is to prosper, which I believe is the wish of hon. Members on both sides of the House, we must give it considerable aid and support in the period ahead. I do not have the figures relating to France and West Germany, but I will check them. Those who tend to single out Japanese car imports as being a problem of special moment should bear in mind that our net trade in cars with France and Germany is worse than it is with Japan.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldDoes my right hon. Friend realise that, continuing logically from what he said, leaving out of account the fleet users and company sales, only one in three of British private motorists is buying a British car? As the figures for the first six months of 1975 show that imports have increased in value by 50 per cent, but exports have increased in value by only 19 per cent., even if my right hon. Friend cannot see his way to introducing import controls will he recognise that there is serious concern particularly among hon. Members such as myself who represent car manufacturing constituencies? Is it not about time that his Department made a definitive statement on import controls?
§ Mr. ShoreI note and share my hon. Friend's concern about the trend. I offer him one modest solace in the light of the figures that he has mentioned. Taking the car industry in its broadest sense, including not only made-up cars but components and spares and associated vehicle industries, we are still substantial net exporters. Do not let us lose sight of that fact, because it is important to this country and to the future prosperity of 1286 the areas which my hon. Friend and other hon. Members represent.
I take the point that hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens prefer to buy cars which they know come from countries whose balance of payments situation is stronger than ours. I repeat what I said in the country some time ago: all of us who are concerned about the future of this country and its industry should search our consciences very carefully indeed before deciding to buy foreign cars.
§ Mr. ShersbyIn the light of the interesting reply which he gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Harwich (Mr. Ridsdale), can the Secretary of State assure us that there are no artificial technical barriers to prevent the export of British cars to Japan?
§ Mr. ShoreAll the obvious technical trade barriers are either non-existent or lower in the case of Japan than they are in the case of many other countries. For example, their tariff is 6.4 per cent. as against our own 11 per cent. There have been changes in various procedures which the Japanese practised in the past in relation to imports which have been to the advantage of our exports. It is difficult to pin on the Japanese industry any specific measure which it is using to protect its home market which would be disadvantageous to our exporters.
| Following is the information: | |||||
| Imports | Exports | ||||
| £'000 | £'000 | ||||
| Number | £'000 cif | Number | £'000 fob | ||
| 1965 | … | 168 | 63 | 2,540 | 1,477 |
| 1966 | … | 1,230 | 472 | 2,739 | 1,618 |
| 1967 | … | 1,425 | 550 | 2,054 | 1,299 |
| 1968 | … | 5,791 | 2,220 | 1,689 | 1,178 |
| 1969 | … | 2,676 | 1,186 | 1,715 | 1,263 |
| 1970 | … | 4,291 | 2,031 | 1,776 | 1,465 |
| 1971 | … | 16,971 | 8,231 | 1,561 | 1,476 |
| 1972 | … | 68,676 | 42,355 | 1,328 | 1,510 |
| 1973 | … | 97,342 | 71,395 | 997 | 1,742 |
| 1974 | … | 86,899 | 64,387 | 1,805 | 3,253 |