Mr. Gresham Cookeasked the President of the Board of Trade what arrangements he is making for the fullest consultations with British industries which may be adversely affected by the importation of Russian manufactured goods under the prospective trade agreement.
§ Sir D. EcclesThe Board and other Departments regularly consult industry whose views on this matter will be borne in mind when import quotas are fixed. I am also prepared, of course, to consider any specific representations that may be made by United Kingdom industry.
Mr. Gresham Cookeasked the President of the Board of Trade, in connection with the negotiations relating to the importation into this country of a limited quantity of Russian manufactured goods, what special considerations will be applied to ensure that the protection of United Kingdom anti-dumping legislation will apply to any importations which may be arranged; and what conditions, in particular, will be laid down as to which of the exchange rates for the rouble will be available for importers of the Russian manufactures involved.
§ Sir D. EcclesThe Soviet Ministers assured me in Moscow that it was their wish to sell here in such a way as not to disrupt United Kingdom markets. We for our part made it clear that we could not set aside the provisions of the Customs Duties (Dumping and Subsidies) 71W Act, and that the criteria for considering applications relating to their exports would be the same as in all other cases. As regards the latter part of the Question, the Soviet trading organisations regularly quote sterling prices when they are quoting to British importers.