§ 8. Mrs. Renée Shortasked the President of the Board of Trade what was the total balance of trade between Great Britain and the German Democratic Republic for each of the last five years; and what proposals he has for increasing it.
§ Mr. RedheadFigures of our trade with East Germany are readily available from the published trade statistics.
My immediate concern is the substantial deficit in our trade which has been brought about by a decline in East German purchases from Britain at a time when our purchases from them have increased greatly. The East German Chamber of Foreign Trade, with whom the Federation of British Industries negotiates an unofficial trade arrangement, has been made fully aware of the necessity to increase their purchases of United Kingdom goods.