§ Mr. Luardasked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the United Kingdom's deficit in visible trade with the present members of the EEC as a proportion of the United Kingdom's total deficit in visible trade in 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973 and 1974, respectively.
§ Mr. DeakinsFollowing is the information:
VISIBLE TRADE BALANCES WITH EEC(8) Balance of payments basis £ million As a percentage of total trade balance 1967 -207 37 1969 -62 43 1971 -131 * 1973† -1,131 48 1974† (provisional) -2,035 40 * A percentage is inappropriate: the total trade balance was +£285 million. † Excluding trade in oil the percentages were 77 and 110 respectively; figures for earlier years are not available on this basis.
§ Mr. Luardasked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the increase in the United Kingdom's visible trade deficit with the Commonwealth, the United States of America and the EEC between 1971 and 1974.
§ Mr. DeakinsFigures on a balance of payments basis are not available. On an overseas trade statistics basis the increases in the United Kingdom's crude trade deficits with the Commonwealth, the United States of America and the EEC (8) between 1971 and 1974 were £406 million, £474 million and £1,958 million, respectively. The crude trade deficit is the difference between imports cif and exports 129W fob and is an approximate rather than an accurate measure of the balance of trade in goods because inter alia of differences in valuation.
§ Mr. Luardasked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the increase in the United Kingdom's total trade with the EEC and with the rest of the world between 1971 and 1974.
§ Mr. DeakinsOn a balance of payments basis, total trade—that is, the sum of imports and exports—between the United Kingdom and the EEC (8) increased between 1971 and 1974 by £7,248 million—147 per cent.; for trade with the rest of the world the increase was £11,507—93 per cent.