§ 9. Mr. Wyattasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the latest trade statistics of the United Nations show that exports from other European countries to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics increased substantially during the first seven months of 1954, while those from the United Kingdom decreased; and whether he will, consequently, take steps to initiate discussions with the Soviet Government with a view to securing a trade agreement leading to an expansion of British exports to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftThe United Nations statistics of United Kingdom trade include re-exports, to which special considerations apply. If these are excluded, exports from the United Kingdom to the Soviet Union in the first seven months of 1954 were seven times their value in the corresponding period of 1953. There is nothing to prevent the Soviet124W authorities from placing orders for United Kingdom goods provided they are not strategic, and the traditional major exports of the Soviet Union already enter the United Kingdom free of import restriction. I do not consider that a trade agreement would materially influence the course of trade.