§ Mr. Gouldasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many jobs in British industry are represented by the deficit in trade in manufactured goods of £928 million annually between the United Kingdom and West Germany.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonOn past relationships a fall of £900 million in manufacturing output can be expected to lead to a fall of around 200,000 in manufacturing employment. However, the trade deficit in manufactures between West Germany and the United Kingdom is in real terms of the same order of magnitude as in late 1974, when United Kingdom employment was at a cyclical peak. The subsequent fall in manufacturing output and employment cannot therefore be attributed to the visible trade deficit with West Germany.