§ 2.50 p.m.
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are concerned about discrimination against British exports by a number of our trading partners.
714§ The Secretary of State for Trade (Lord Cockfield)My Lords, Her Majesty's Government are indeed concerned at the inequitable market access offered by some of our trading partners and are intensifying their efforts to ameliorate this unsatisfactory situation.
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, I thank my noble friend for his Answer. Would I be right to assume that he is well aware of the one-sided kind of arrangement whereby the tariff on British cars to Spain is 4 per cent. whereas the tariff imposed by Spain is 37 per cent? Would Her Majesty's Government be prepared to raise this matter at the next meeting of GATT in Geneva?
§ Lord CockfieldMy Lords, my noble friend is entirely right. The problem, however, is that this unequal treatment arises under a treaty which was signed in 1970 between Spain and the European Community and we inherited the obligations under that treaty when we joined the Community in 1973. We have been making strong representations on the matter through the European Community.
§ Lord MottistoneMy Lords, would not my noble friend agree that Japan in particular is being very onesided in its pursuit of free trade, that there are various areas in which Japan could give concessions to us which at the moment it does not, and that this might be encouraged in the GATT discussions which are shortly to take place?
§ Lord CockfieldMy Lords, I agree entirely with my noble friend. This year the probability is that the deficit on our trade with Japan will amount to £2 billion. Other countries in the world, notably the United States, also have substantial deficits with Japan. This, therefore, is a worldwide problem and it is one of the matters to which the GATT ministerial meeting will be addressing its mind.