§ 82. Mr. Holtasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will state, in respect of machinery imported into the United Kingdom during 1955, 1956, and 1957, the value of the imports of each main group which were free of the tariff normally chargeable, with particular reference to spinning, weaving, and hosiery machinery; and what percentage of total imports of each group these represent.
§ Mr. ErrollThe figures for total imports in the first table relate to 111W machinery of types eligible for duty-free licence imported in each calendar year. The figures for duty remitted in the second table relate to the licences granted in each year. As a licence may be granted before the machinery is imported or authorise reimbursement of duty paid sometime after it has been imported, the duty-free licence figure for each year in the second table includes some machinery which was imported both before and after that year and excludes some machinery which was imported during that year. Thus the figures in the two tables are not comparable, and no percentages can be deduced from them.
TOTAL IMPORTS £'000 — 1955 1956 1957 All machinery eligible for licence 86,300 116,600 Not available Spinning machinery 241 518 544 Weaving machinery 951 559 660 Hosiery machinery 2,941 2,563 2,721
VALUE OF MACHINERY FOR WHICH DUTY FREE LICENCES ISSUED £'000 — 1955 1956 1957 All machinery 26,300 29,600 31,600 Spinning machinery 108 171 290 Weaving machinery 886 352 245 Hosiery machinery 1,203 1,072 875