§ 19. Mr. Jayasked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the visible trade balance of the United Kingdom with the original six EEC countries in goods, other than food, feeding stuffs and oil in 1970, 1976 and 1977, respectively.
§ Mr. MeacherOur crude trade balance with the original six EEC countries in goods, other than food and live animals and petroleum and petroleum products was in surplus by £200 million in 1970 and in deficit by £1,168 and £1,470 million in 1976 and 1977 respectively.
§ 20. Mr. Moateasked the Secretary of State for Trade what are the comparable figures, for the last 12 months for which figures are available, for the visible trade deficit between the United Kingdom and the EEC and between the EEC and Japan.
§ Mr. MeacherThe EEC visible trade deficit with Japan in the year to the third quarter 1977 was just over $5 billion.
The EEC visible trade surplus with the United Kingdom in the same period was $1.7 billion.
§ 28. Mr. Martenasked the Secretary of State for Trade what is the trade deficit with the EEC, at an annual rate, based on the last available three months.
§ Mr. MeacherOur visible trade deficit with the EEC on a balance of payments basis in the fourth quarter of 1977 was £1,764 million, at an annual rate.
§ Mr. Rathboneasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will list the percentage figures for each of the years 1973–77, 6W indicating the ratio of the United Kingdom's net usable trade deficit expressed in £ sterling, with (a) the rest of the EEC and (b) the rest of the world excluding the EEC.
§ Mr. MeacherFollowing is the information:
PROPORTION OF UNITED KINGDOM'S VISIBLE DEFICIT (BALANCE OF PAYMENTS BASIS) Percentage (a) (b) With EEC With Non-EEC 1973 … … 50 50 1974 … … 39 61 1975 … … 75 25 1976 … … 59 41 1977* … … 104 -4 * In 1977, there was a small surplus on trade with non-EEC countries. The ratio to the total visible deficit has been quoted with a minus sign
§ Mr. Woofasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will make a statement regarding the balance of international trade; and whether he has had discussions with Ministers of OECD.
§ Mr. MeacherPresent trends in international trade suggest only a modest rate of growth for the remainder of 1978. The situation remains precarious as a result of the large balance of payments surpluses both of the OPEC countries and also Japan and Germany, the corresponding deficits of other countries, particularly the United States, and the failure of the more strongly placed industrialised countries to pursue sufficiently expansionary demand management policies. These problems were discussed recently by the relevant senior official committee of the OECD, and there was general agreement that the way out of the present recession had to be found in the developed countries taking collective action to expand their economies, with the responsibility divided among individual countries according to the relative strength of their individual positions. OECD Ministers will be discussing the matter at their annual meeting in June.
§ Mr. Woofasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will list those EEC countries with which the United Kingdom currently has a favourable trade balance and those countries with which the United Kingdom has an unfavourable trade balance; and by what percentages all 7W balances have changed in one direction or another since 1st January 1974.
§ Mr. MeacherIn 1977 the United Kingdom had a crude trade surplus with the Irish Republic, which increased by 266 per cent. compared with 1973, and with Belgium/Luxembourg, which declined by 3 per cent. on 1973. With the remaining EEC countries the United Kingdom had a deficit in 1977. For West Germany the deficit increased by 93 per cent. compared with 1973, for France, 75 per cent., Italy, 348 per cent. and Netherlands, 16 per cent. The deficit with Denmark fell by 89 per cent. between 1973 and 1977.