§ 18. Mr. Skinnerasked the Secretary of State for Trade what is the latest available figure for imports and exports to and from the original six EEC countries and the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. MeacherOur exports to the original six EEC countries in the second quarter of this year were £2,750 million and our imports from them were £3,446 million.
§ Mr. SkinnerI suppose that my hon. Friend has some difficulty in getting out pathetic figures such as those, in view of his position on the Common Market at one time. Is he also aware that if the Franco-German plan, announced at Bremen, is accepted, this will result in further German domination of our industrial economy and that those figures will thereby get worse? In other words, Herr Schmidt will have succeeded where Hitler failed in dominating this nation. My hon. Friend would do well to draw up contingency plans with his colleagues to get out of the Common Market, otherwise we shall not solve this problem.
§ Mr. MeacherThe trade results of the currency stabilisation proposals cannot, on the basis of the nature of the proposals, be estimated at this point, but I can tell my hon. Friend that in the first half of this year the export-import ratio in our trade with the EEC stood at 84 per cent., which, while it was a reduction on the level of last year, was nevertheless rather better than our export-import ratio with North America, which stood at 76 per cent.
§ Mr. Tim RentonOn the other side of the coin, can the Minister confirm that Ford would not now be setting up its new motor car engine plant at Bridgend in South Wales if Britain were not within the EEC, so that Ford is therefore certain of being able to send these motor car engines from South Wales to its other assembly plants throughout EEC countries?
§ Mr. MeacherThe hon. Gentleman may be right, but it is also true that the British Government have given very substantial aid to Ford under selective Industry Act schemes. That money would certainly continue to be available whatever the position with regard to the EEC. The wider consequences of Britain being outside the EEC would, of course, have to be calculated very carefully on both sides and not in respect of only one investment.
§ Mr. JayCan my hon. Friend say what is the latest figure, at an annual rate, of our deficit in manufactured goods with the EEC Six?
§ Mr. MeacherNo, I do not think I can give my right hon. Friend that information directly, but I shall certainly let 1144 him have it by letter. In respect of trade and manufactures, our export-import ratio with the EEC Six—poor though it certainly is, and much though it has deteriorated—remains better than it does with the rest of Western Europe, North America and, indeed, other developed countries over the last few years.
§ Mr. MartenIs the Minister aware that the crude trade deficit with the whole of the EEC over the whole of last year amounted to £2,300 million and that the deficit on invisibles was £300 million? How much longer must this go on before the Government do something about it?
§ Mr. MeacherThe visible trade consequences of a reduction of tariff barriers probably still remain less than the consequences of sharp changes in the exchange rates, and of domestic inflation differentials, but it remains true that visible trade with the EEC is very poor and that the invisible trade pattern is considerably worse. It has changed from a surplus of £380 million in 1973 to an estimated deficit last year of £300 million, and it has been a steady, regular decline.