§ Wing-Commander Robinsonasked (1) the President of the Board of Trade why, in view of the urgent need for the development and expansion of British export trade, especially with the U.S.A., permission to make such exports is refused to firms who did not carry on such export trade before the war;
(2) the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department why, in view of the need for dollar exports, a well-known firm of West End tailors has been refused permission to export cloth to the U.S.A.
§ Sir S. CrippsExport restrictions have been removed from many classes of goods. There are a few, however, particularly textiles, food and raw materials, for which control must remain for the present, both in order to conserve supplies for the home market and to ensure that Empire and other markets dependent upon us obtain supplies. In a few of these cases where exports are severely restricted, the system adopted has been to limit exports to the customary trade channels, which is, in the circumstances, the fairest arrangement. As soon as the supply position allows, we shall, I hope, be able to get away from this arrangement.