§ Mr. Gouldasked the Secretary of State for Trade whether the index of trade competitiveness made any allowance for changes in the United Kingdom competitiveness caused by the loss of tariff preferences in home and overseas markets over the past five years.
§ Mr. MeacherNo explicit allowance for changes in tariffs is made in the compilation of the export competitiveness index, which is defined, for the published statistics, as the ratio of United Kingdom export prices of manufactures to a
690Wports of (a) machinery and (b) manufactured goods to the EEC and other countries, in each of the first three quarters of 1976 and in October 1976.
§ Mr. MeacherThe available information is shown on the attached note:
pare with the figures for the same three months for other EEC countries; and what, in each case, is the percentage increase on the first quarter of 1976.
§ Mr. MeacherFollowing is the information:
weighted average of those of our major competitors, both expressed in terms of United States dollars. However, changes in tariffs may affect the export prices of both the United Kingdom and our competitors, and also the market pattern of trade, and, hence, the weighting used in compiling the index.