§ 9. Mr. RathboneTo ask the Secretary of State for 378 Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made recently to the United States Government about the Helms-Burton Act. [22619]
§ Sir Nicholas BonsorWe have made clear our concerns to the United States Government on a number of occasions recently.
§ Mr. RathboneWill my hon. Friend continue the Government's actions to persuade the United States to withdraw this ludicrous legislation—legislation that it has introduced in contravention of the rules of the North American Free Trade Area and the World Trade Organisation, which it helped to set up? That level of severity is no way to respond, even to the thoughtless and tragic shooting down of two civilian planes by the Cuban Government. Will he bring pressure to bear from the Government, and through the European Union and the Commonwealth, on the United States to reverse this piece of legislation, which is bad for everyone but which is worse for Cuba in its transition to democracy?
§ Sir Nicholas BonsorI assure my hon. Friend that the Government take this very seriously. The Helms-Burton Act has two particularly objectionable clauses: title III, which gives United States citizens the right to sue in the American courts British and other foreign companies that traffic, as they put it, with Cuba and in Cuba; and title IV, which claims the right to exclude from the United States anyone connected with any company that may be trafficking in that way, and that appears to include shareholders and their families. The Government view that as unacceptable legislation, with very high extra-territorial content.
Therefore, we are making bilateral complaints to the United States Government, the most recent of which was a diplomatic note that we sent today—it will be put in the Library shortly, if it is not already there. We are also joining with our European Union colleagues to see what steps can be taken collectively to persuade the United States to think better of this unfortunate move. The permanent representatives will be meeting later this week to discuss this and the Foreign Affairs Council will be meeting towards the end of the month. The British delegation to both meetings will make strong representations that we should exert pressure on the United States to change its mind.
§ Mr. Tony LloydI welcome the Minister's words, and I offer the Labour party's full support for the actions that the Government have taken. However, will he accept that the briefings given by the Department of Trade and Industry have made it clear that the United States will take action on an exemplary basis against British companies to warn other companies about trading with Cuba? Will he make it clear that that would be grossly unacceptable to this country? Will he also make sure that the American President is under no illusions that it is the position of the British Government that he should use his power to delay this legislation indefinitely so that it cannot be used in this unacceptable manner against our national interests?
§ Sir Nicholas BonsorCertainly it would be wholly unacceptable to Her Majesty's Government if British companies were used as exemplars to discourage others from trading with Cuba, and we would make the strongest 379 representations to the United States Government were that to be the case. I believe that the President's right to defer the legislation refers specifically to title III, which does not come into effect until 1 August, so we have a little time. Her Majesty's Government will try as hard as they can to get the President to exercise that right. I am afraid that during an election year he may find it difficult, but we will do our best to make sure that he does.
§ Mr. FabricantNotwithstanding Her Majesty's Government's view towards the Helms-Burton Act, will my hon. Friend at least acknowledge that the United States Government are the single largest contributor of aid to the Cuban people?
§ Sir Nicholas BonsorI am not sure whether that will continue to be the case—but, if it does, I will be the first to welcome it.