§ Mr. J. Hudsonasked the President of the Board of Trade whether in view of His Majesty's Government's policy to prohibit United Kingdom manufacturers from using zinc, brass and copper in the manufacture of certain goods any decision has been reached in respect of the import of similar goods.
Mr. H. WilsonHis Majesty's Government have given very careful consideration to the question of restricting imports of goods of the type which United Kingdom manufacturers will be prohibited from184W making. They have come to the conclusion that, since restrictions on imports imposed by one or more countries would have a very limited effect in saving scarce raw materials, it would be preferable to deal with the problem by consulting the other countries concerned on ways of restricting non-essential uses. Member countries of the O.E.E.C. are required to report the measures they have introduced or are introducing to reduce consumption of raw materials in short supply, and it is our hope that other countries, in so far as they have not already done so, will take other measures, comparable to those which we are taking, to conserve zinc, brass and copper.
There is a real danger that the precipitate imposition of restrictions by ourselves and other countries would lead to a contraction of international trade over a far wider field, and the United Kingdom, as a major exporting country, would stand to lose far more than it would gain by such action. For the time being, and pending the international discussions to which I have referred, therefore, the United Kingdom does not propose to apply import restrictions to the goods in question. We shall, however, carefully watch the situation and, should exceptional difficulties arise, we should reserve the right to consider imposing import restrictions.