§ Mr. Ronald Brownasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will discuss with his fellow Trade Ministers in the EEC common action to be taken to prevent the flooding of member countries with dumped pianos thereby putting at risk the European piano industry.
§ Mr. MeacherNo. Anti-dumping action can only be taken by the EEC
£ million 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 USSR: Deficit 108.1 110.8 128.4 229.7 277.8 179.8 403.6 439.8 Czechoslovakia: Deficit 3.2 5.9 8.6 11.9 10.2 7.9 10.0 21.0 German Democratic Republic: Surplus 0.9 — — — — — — — Deficit — 2.4 6.7 12.7 5.0 6.2 15.3 40.8 Poland: Surplus — 4.7 4.9 16.4 29.6 68.7 37.3 22.0 Deficit 1.9 — — — — — — — Hungary: Surplus 8.2 11.4 11.1 9.6 17.1 16.4 19.1 18.4 Yugoslavia: Surplus 21.7 35.1 25.2 32.2 53.1 69.9 95.0 134.6 Romania: Surplus 5.9 10.0 15.4 2.4 — 3.9 — 31.1 Deficit — — — — 0.2 — 0.5 — Note: These figures are in accordance with the second revision of the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC (Rev 2)), and relate to the crude balance of trade (i.e. the difference between imports valued c.i.f. and exports valued f.o.b.).