§ 7. Mr. Strawasked the Secretary of State for Trade what further plans he has to impose tariff or quota restrictions on those imports of textiles and clothing which cause severe disruption to home productions.
§ Mr. NottWe shall continue to seek new quotas under the multi-fibre arrangement when the need arises, and to police all existing restrictions effectively. I have no powers to impose further general tariff restrictions, but I shall continue to support the introduction of anti-dumping duties by the European Community whenever these are justified.
§ Mr. StrawWill the Secretary of State agree that while the fact of Indonesia's retaliation cannot be ignored, the truth is that the British Government were acting fully within the terms of the existing multi-fibre arrangement and the bilateral Indonesian/EEC agreement in taking the action they took against the import of Indonesian textiles, and that if countries which are signatories to existing agreements seek to tear them up, there is very little prospect for growth in world trade?
§ Mr. NottI must correct the hon. Gentleman in one respect. It is the Community that has an agreement with Indonesia, not the British Government. The Community was acting wholly in accordance with the agreement that it had.
§ Mr. FormanAlthough the whole House recognises that it is necessary to act against dumping, does my right hon. Friend agree that the Indonesian experience, to which reference has already been made, should provide a cautionary tale against excessive protectionism, not least because European manufacturers, and particularly people in this country, lost £100 million worth of possible export orders in consequence of the Indonesian problem?
§ Mr. NottI do not know that I would like to draw any conclusions, particularly from the Indonesian situation, but in general terms my hon. Friend is absolutely right. There can be no question but that if we go more towards a policy of general import controls, import ceilings or whatever the terminology may be, we shall meet with retaliation against our exports. There cannot be any doubt whatever about that.
§ Mr. Edwin WainwrightDoes the right hon. Gentleman realise that we seem to have an open door to imports but, and that while we are playing fair with other countries, we are losing in every direction? Is he aware of the ramifications involved in the buying and selling of goods, including textiles? Does he realise that the Government are letting down the nation, in particular the textile, footwear and other industries, by permitting cheap imports to enter this country?
§ Mr. NottThe hon. Gentleman is not correct. The overwhelming proportion of our textile imports from low-cost producers are under some kind of restraint at the present time. The textile industry is better protected from low-cost sources than it has ever been in its history. For shoes, there is a network of quotas and other protective devices.
This country obtains nearly 30 per cent. of its gross national product in exports. Therefore, in order to sell our exports, on which a third of all manufacturing jobs depend, we must keep the barriers down as far as we can. Otherwise we shall have a jobs disaster which far exceeds anything that we have at the present time.