§ 86. Mr. Donnellyasked the President of the Board of Trade what inquiries his Department initiated amongst British manufacturers of prefabricated timber buildings prior to his considering the importation from Finnish manufacturers of prefabricated timber schools to the approximate value of £500,000.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftNone. As part of our trade agreement with Finland, we have undertaken to license imports up to the figure mentioned if there should be applications. We cannot expect to go on selling our own manufactures in Europe if we are not willing to offer foreign countries some facilities for the sale of their own goods in the United Kingdom. 183W If there are adequate supplies of British buildings available at competitive prices, however, there seems no reason why the Finnish buildings should be imported. The Government are in no way committed to buy these buildings or to arrange for them to be imported.