Unfair Trade Unit (Hansard, 18 June 1986)

§ 9. Mr. Sumberg
asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement about his Department's new unfair trade unit.

§ 17. Mr. Stanbrook
asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has any plans to take steps to improve the way in which complaints by British firms about unfair trading practices by foreign competitors within and without the European Community are dealt with by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Alan Clark
On 13 May I announced the formation of the unfair trade unit to co-ordinate work on complaints about all forms of unfair practices in international trade. I intend the new unit to enable the Department to respond more quickly to such complaints. The establishment of the unit does not represent any change in policy away from open international trade and towards protectionism.

§ Mr. Sumberg
While I welcome my hon. Friend's reply and the establishment of the new unit, which I believe will have a useful part to play, may I ask whether he is aware that many business men, and especially those in the paper industry in my constituency, feel that they are suffering as a result of unfair foreign trade practices but are not sure how to tackle the problem and to whom they should go for advice? What support can my hon. Friend offer business men in general and the paper industry in particular?

§ Mr. Clark
That is precisely the kind of instance for which the new unit has been set up. Unfair trading can arise from a number of sources—as a result of dumping, for which there are recognised procedures, as a result of subsidies, agency arrangemens in restraint, counterfeiting, and so on. If my hon. Friend's constituent will write to the 1036 Department the matter will be referred to the unit and he will receive immediate advice on appropriate steps to try to obtain redress.

§ Mr. Stanbrook
Is my hon. Friend aware that many British firms are mystified as Ito what to do about unfair competition from abroad? Even Government Departments seem to be unaware of the facilities that can be offered by the unfair trade unit and its predecessor. They are not co-ordinated in Brussels, so often the reaction there to a complaint is indifferent and off-putting. Will my hon. Friend assure us that this unit will adopt a public identity that will counteract the previous tendencies of other Government Departments, and will he ensure that it gets all the resources that it needs?

§ Mr. Clark
Certainly that is my intention. I am grateful to all my hon. Friends for allowing me to publicise this in the Chamber. The anti-dumping unit was concerned only with the narrower question of dumping. The unfair trade unit has been expanded and is intended precisely to embrace all the different aspects of unfair trade that in many cases baffle business men. As my hon. Friend has said, they do not know how to start correcting them. I hope that all my hon. Friends and all Opposition Members will take note of the existence of the new unit and will encourage their constituents to refer cases to me so that I may pass them on to the unit for immediate investigation.

§ Mr. Janner
Is the Minister aware that one of the unfair trade practices that baffles the public is that which allows mountains of food and lakes of drink to accumulate when people are starving? Will this unit deal with that source of unfairness, or turn a blind eye to it?

§ Mr. Clark
The unit is concerned with imports.

§ Mr. Spencer
Is my hon. Friend aware of the reprehensible practice of some foreign companies of cross-subsidisation between subsidiaries to conceal the true cost of their products? A textile manufacturing firm in my constituency called Bentley Engineering has been hit particularly by this reprehensible practice.

§ Mr. Janner
It is in my constituency.

§ Mr. Spencer
Can my hon. Friend assure us that such activity will be within the purview of the unit?

§ Mr. Clark
Certainly it will be considered. Such activity is difficult to trace, for obvious reasons, but I should not want a case not to be referred to the unit simply because it seemed to be too difficult or elusive. I should be glad if my hon. and learned Friend would write to me about that.

§ Mr. Wainwright
Does the Minister agree that in order to extend the freedom of international trade it is essential to have strong defences against economic warfare conducted against us by contries where export trading is in the hands of the state? If so, can he reassure the House that his welcome unfair trade unit will not be handicapped and shackled by crude numerical reductions in the manpower of the Civil Service?

§ Mr. Clark
I can assure the hon. Gentleman that I shall do my best to ensure that that does not happen. I do not see any sign of it.

§ Mr. Beaumont-Dark
Does my hon. Friend agree that for six years we have been promised that the country that indulges in more unfair trade practices than any other country on the face of the earth, Japan, would be dealt 1037 with? Does this mean that at long last those promises will become fact and that the Japanese will have to compete fairly rather than being allowed to destroy one high-tech industry after another when it does not suit them to have competition? Will they keep their word at long last?

§ Mr. Clark
Whether they keep their word is a matter for them. Certainly those who have doubts that they may should be fortified by the promulgation of the unit. Indeed, I expect that imports from Japan are likely to be among the first to feature in the programme. The two successful anti-dumping cases in the last year both related to Japanese products.