§ 64. Mr. Stokesasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that whereas gin and other alcoholic beverages are now being exported at 200–300 per cent. above pre-war export price in sterling, Scotch whisky has only gone up by 90 per cent. approximately; and what steps he proposes to take to get the export price of whisky more in line with the export price of gin.
Mr. AmoryAccording to the Trade and Navigation Accounts, the export prices of whisky are rather more than double, and of other spirits nearly three times, those of 1938. But I am informed that in the case of exports to the United States the price of Scotch whisky has increased considerably more than that of gin. The price at which Scotch whisky should be sold in overseas markets is a matter for the exporters themselves and I think it best to leave it to them.