§ Lord AVEBURY asked Her Majesty's Government:
§ Whether they have studied evidence, published in Electronic Times, that three British companies have decided not to assemble microcomputers in Britain because the customs duty on chips is 17 per cent., that on empty circuit boards is 10 per cent. and on whole complete systems are only 5.8 per cent.; whether they have any plans to harmonise these tariffs, and whether they will invite representatives of the Electronics Components Industry Federation to discuss this and other problems with the Minister.
Lord TREFGARNThe Government are aware of the industry's concern about customs duties on electronic components and in particular of the suggestion that the duty structure has been a factor in the decisions of certain companies to 434 assemble electronic components and equipment overseas. All Member States of the European Community apply the rates of duty contained in the Common Customs Tariff and any changes in these rates require the unanimous agreement of Member States. There are substantial obstacles to the closer alignment of the present rates of duty. The present duty structure has evolved through successive rounds of international trade negotiations and the Community is bound by obligations arising from these negotiations to maintain duties at or below their present level. The EEC also attaches importance to retaining an adequate level of tariff protection to encourage production of chips in the Community. The Government have, however, taken steps to secure the agreement of other Member States of the Community to the temporary suspension of customs duties on certain chips that are clearly not available from Community producers. The Department of Industry has maintained close contact with the ECIF on this as on other matters of concern to the federation and its members and is ready to have further consultations where necessary.