Mr. Vaneasked the President of the Board of Trade which of our exporting industries have been most affected adversely by American restrictions on imports over the last two years; how these restrictions compare with any imposed by us over the same period; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Sir D. EcclesImports into the United States from the United Kingdom are almost wholly free of quantitative restrictions. During the last two years the United States Government have increased the customs duties on two products of interest to the United Kingdom—bicycles and linen towelling—but reductions have been made in other United States tariffs to compensate for these increases. The United States Government have also introduced a tariff-quota system for wool fabrics, and United Kingdom interests may be affected by the new limitation on imports of oil.
Apart from minor adjustments in the size of some quotas, no additional import restrictions have been placed on imports into the United Kingdom from 296W the United States in the last two years and, so far as I am aware, no tariff increase on our side has materially affected the interests of the United States.
But import prohibitions and restrictions continue to apply, for balance of payments reasons, over a very wide range of United States imports, and I think that it would be misleading to attempt to compare these actions.