§ Mr. Rees-Williamsasked the Minister of Supply (1) what steps he is taking to recover from the U.S. Government the value of that portion of the 10,000 tons of tin found in Japan on occupation and removed to the U.S.A., known to have been looted by the Japanese from British possessions;
(2) from what countries the 10,000 tons of rubber, 10,000 tons of tin and 15,000 tons of lead, found in Japan on occupation, were looted by the Japanese; under what authority these goods are being taken to the U.S.A.; and whether His Majesty's Government have consented to this removal.
§ Mr. WilmotThe rubber so far identified came from British territory, the Nether-2W lands East Indies and French Indo-China. Some of the tin come from Malaya and the Netherlands East Indies and some of the lead from Burma. I have no information about the origin of the remainder. The rubber and tin were allocated to the U.S.A. by the Combined Rubber Committee and the Combined Tin Committee, respectively. The question of payment for the tin is at present being discussed with the U.S. Government. There is no committee for lead, but it was agreed with the U.S. Government that they should take the surplus Japanese lead, while the U.K. should take surplus lead found in Germany.