HC Deb 27 February 1985 vol 74 cc316-7
2. Mr. Alan Howarth

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he intends that Britain should take internationally to curb protectionism.

The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. Norman Tebbit)

The United Kingdom, through the European Commission, challenges protectionist measures in other countries and upholds its rights under the GATT. We support proposals for a new GATT round which will play an important role in reinforcing the open trading system. We also press for freer trade in our regular bilateral contacts with other Governments.

Mr. Howarth

I welcome my right hon. Friend's robust support of free trade, but what advice—equally robust, I hope — would he give to those in the United States currently advocating a 20 per cent. import surcharge to cope with balance of payment problems?

Mr. Tebbit

It would be most regrettable if United States industry sought to solve difficulties made in the United States at the expense of the rest of the world. The United States steel industry, in particular, has some way to go in changing certain rigidities and methods of doing business.

Mr. Park

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that not all countries take such an upright approach as he does and that this operates to the detriment of our exporters?

Mr. Tebbit

Few Governments and few people take such an upright approach as I do, but it usually pays in the long run.

Mr. Greenway

Will my right hon. Friend consider taking steps to protect horse riders in this country by banning the import of non-BSI-approved riding hats?

Mr. Tebbit

My hon. Friend raises a mildly esoteric point. Unusually for me, I should like notice of the matter and will write to my hon. Friend about it.

Mr. Ashdown

Was the proposed 20 per cent. import surcharge discussed by the Prime Minister on her recent visit to Washington, and, if so, what were the results? If British goods were to be covered by the surcharge, would that not be further proof that the Prime Minister's visit to Washington was more an ego trip for herself than of any benefit to Britain?

Mr. Tebbit

The trouble with the hon. Gentleman is that whenever he gets to his feet he is on an ego trip. If he had listened to what my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said yesterday he would know that she raised with the United States Administration the threat of protectionism. The hon. Gentleman should appreciate, however, that even in the perhaps somewhat overheated atmosphere of last year's election in the United States the President and the Administration were robust in resisting calls for protectionism, and I hope that they will remain so.

Mr. Hanley

I welcome my right hon. Friend's initiative in trying to get another round of GATT talks going, but is he aware that there is increasing protectionism in the United States and the suggestion of almost Socialist limits on imports and financial quotas? As with unilateral disarmament, will my right hon. Friend avoid throwing away the one area in which our own exporters can achieve some protection by imposing such measures on others?

Mr. Tebbit

I am not a believer in unilateral disarmament in this or any other matter, but there is a clear need for a great deal of disarmament in the matter of protectionism. I hope that we shall continue to be able to persuade the United States that its own interests, as much as those of the rest of the world, lie in free trade.