Sir W. BARTONasked the President of the Board of Trade the value of the im- 1121W ports from Germany from 1st January to 31st May, 1921, giving separately the amounts under the different classifications of raw materials and semi-manufactured and manufactured articles; and if he will state, in consecutive order of value, particulars of the six largest items imported and all of the same particulars applicable to the same months in 1914?
§ Sir P. LLOYD-GREAMEThe returns which are being regularly obtained with
IMPORTS INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM CONSIGNED FROM GERMANY. — Three months Jan.-March, 1921. Year 1914. Class II. £ £ Raw materials and Articles mainly unmanufactured. 120,000 4,076,000 Class III. Articles wholly or mainly manufactured:— A. Articles completely manufactured and ready for consumption. 3,870,000 15,882,000 B. Articles manufactured but requiring to pass through some process of adaptation or combination before entering into consumption. 2,513,000 13,383,000 C. Articles partly manufactured 826,000 4,472,000 The six largest of the items separately returnable for statistical purposes, included in the above totals, were:
1122W
In January-March, 1921. £ Finished dyestuffs obtained from coal tar, other than alizarine and synthetic indigo 472,104 Crude zine 338,925 Toys, other than dolls and metal and wooden toys 291,205 Gloves of cotton 206,772 Wire, other than uninsulated electric and fencing wire 156,278 Machines and machinery, not elsewhere specified 129,588 In 1914. Cotton piece-goods, dyed in the piece 1,205,720 Broadstuffs of silk mixed with other materials 1,179,689 Cotton hosiery, other than stockings and socks 1,117,987 Steel sheet bars and tinplate bars 942,313 Steel blooms, billets and slabs 852,773 Machinery unenumerated 851,483 regard to imports from Germany are prepared in quarterly periods. To give the specific information asked for by the hon. Member would involve great labour and considerable expense, which I do not feel I should be justified in incurring. Prior to the War the corresponding figures were only prepared in respect of an annual period. The total imports for 1914 are therefore given in the following table:
It is to be observed that the classification of imports employed since the beginning of 1920 is more detailed than that in use before the War. The last of the items in each of the above lists is affected by such changes, since the extent of the classes of machinery not separately enumerated has been reduced.