HC Deb 21 July 1977 vol 935 cc659-60W
Mr. Madden

asked the Secretary of State for Trade (1) if he will make a statement on the current adverse balance of trade between the United Kingdom and Japan;

(2) what recent representations have been made by British manufacturing companies about Japanese non-tariff barriers;

(3) if he will instance those non-tariff barriers, identified by his Department in United Kingdom/Japanese trade, which have been removed in the past five years; and if he will make a statement;

(4) what progress has been secured with the Japanese authorities in the removal of non-tariff barriers to British goods entering Japan; and how many such barriers have been identified by his Department as being operated by the Japanese authorities.

Mr. Dell

I shall reply to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.

Mr. Madden

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will publish the annual figures for the balance of trade, by value, in cars and textiles, between the United Kingdom and Japan.

Mr. Dell

Annual figures of the United Kingdom's crude trade balance—that is, the difference between exports valued fob and imports valued cif—with Japan in cars and textiles can be derived from published information on overseas trade statistics. For cars (SITC Code 732.1), for the years just prior to 1974, the information is given in Table 2 of Volume IV of the "Annual Statements of Overseas Trade of the United Kingdom", and for 1975 and 1976 in Tables III and VI of, respectively, the December 1975 issue of "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom" and "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom 1976". For textiles (SITC Division 65), for the years just prior to 1974, the information is given in Table 1 of Volume IV of the Annual Statements, and for 1975 and 1976 in Tables II and V of the "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom, 1976". Copies of all these publications are available in the House of Commons Library.