§ Dame Irene Wardasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the rules governing the provision of guaranteed credit for ships ordered from United Kingdom shipbuilders in respect of steel imports.
§ Sir J. EdenThe Government have reviewed the credit admissibility rules for the Home Credit Scheme and export credit guarantees in relation to their effect on the purchase of steel abroad by United Kingdom shipbuilders. Steel represents a substantial proportion of the cost of a ship, and the limit of 20 per cent. on the admissibility of foreign content for guaranteed credit has in practice limited the freedom of the shipbuilding industry to acquire steel from non-B.S.C. sources. The Government are anxious that every help should be given to the United Kingdom shipbuilding industry to increase its competitiveness and have, therefore, decided that the limit of 20 per cent. on admissible foreign content can be exceeded by a modest amount where steel imports are part of the foreign content. In all other respects the present admissibility procedures will be maintained.