HC Deb 16 February 1981 vol 999 cc13-4
15. Mr. Deakins

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he is satisfied with the trend since 1970 for the United Kingdom to have a greater share of its total trade with the European Economic Community and a lesser share with the rest of the world.

Mr. Parkinson

Such a trend has been evident for some 30 years. However, our membership of the Community, with a market of some 270 million people, has, not surprisingly, led to a quickening in this trend. We welcome an increase in our trade wherever it occurs.

Mr. Deakins

As the community consists of industrial countries, and the prospect for industrial countries in the foreseeable future is one of much slower growth than in the past, is not this trend to say the least a little unfortunate? Should not our exporters be devoting much more attention to the great potential markets in the rest of the world, particularly in the developing countries where the prospects fro long-term economic growth are much better than in the industrialised countries?

Mr. Parkinson

I do not think that this is an either-or situation. We are now naturally inside a market of 270 million people with no external tariffs against us. That is a good opportunity for us, operating within a very large home base, to build up our trade. But I see no signs that British industry is neglecting the rest of the world. Indeed, wherever I go in the world, I find British industry extremely active in seeking out business in new markets, and I encourage it in every way that I can.

Mr. Stokes

Is not one of the side effects of our increasing trade with the EEC that there is more European investment in this country? Is not that in itself a good thing?

Mr. Parkinson

My hon. Friend is correct.

Mr. Cryer

Is not the reality that we shifted power away from the United Kingdom Parliament, and that the EEC is lethargic about measures such as anti-dumping legislation, so that implementation of anti-dumping legislation and the multi-fibre arrangement has now moved to the EEC and the Government cannot take independent action? Is not the textile and clothing industries lobby here today a measure of the anxiety about that because of the continued job loss taking place in those industries?

Mr. Parkinson

I know that the hon. Gentleman is extremely concerned about the state of the textile industry, as are the Government. But it does no good at all to identify the wrong causes of the industry's problems. I must tell the hon. Gentleman frankly that the MFA is administered here. We administer and monitor the quotas, and we ensure that they are enforced. Since we came to office we have strengthened the arrangement in a varity of ways. I therefore do not accept that our membership of the EEC is a source of the textile industry's problems. The MFA, as negotiated by the Government of whom the right hon. Member for Lanarkshire, North (Mr. Smith) was a member, is in place and is doing its job.

Mr. Squire

Does my hon. Friend accept that, as he has already been criticised by an anti-European for not exporting enough to the EEC and is now being criticised for exporting too much, the chances are that he has it about right?

Mr. Parkinson

Modesty forbids me from agreeing with my hon. Friend.