§ Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Trade what figures are available of the value and volume of Japanese bearings imported into Great Britain.
§ Mr. MeacherFollowing is the latest available information for United Kingdom imports of bearings consigned from Japan:—
Metric tones £ thousand April 1977-March 1978 Bearings: Ball 1,597.6 5,334 Needle roller 6.9 73 Tapered roller 964.0 2,173 Cylindrical roller 205.0 593 Spherical roller 169.5 380 Other ball, roller or needle roller 51.3 197 Plain shaft* 45.0 383 Parts of ball, roller or needle roller bearings 840.0 1,744 Housings for ball, roller or needle roller bearings, whether or not incorporating bearings* 374.3 542 Plain housings, with or without plain bearings† (0.4) (2) May 1977-April 1978 Ball, roller or needle roller bearings and parts thereof 3,686.0 10,202 April 1977-March 1978 Ball, roller or needle roller bearings and parts thereof 3,834.2 10,494 * Including parts, April-December 1977 only. † January-April 1978 only
§ Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will open bilateral negotiations with the Japanese Government aimed at reducing the imports of Japanese bearings to Great Britain.
§ Mr. MeacherNo. The European industry was concerned at the increasing share of the market being taken by low-priced imports from Japan and therefore applied for anti-dumping action. An antidumping duty was imposed at 15 per cent. but was suspended when the Japanese gave an undertaking to the EEC Commission in July last year to increase 73W their prices by around 20 per cent., and as a result these imports are subject to Community price surveillance.
Total Japanese imports of ball, roller and needle roller bearings into the United Kingdom were as follows:
1977 tonnes 1st quarter … … … 1,169 2nd quarter … … … 1,001 3rd quarter … … … 924 4th quarter … … … 1,116 1978 1st quarter … … … 793