§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Industry what was the rate of utilisation of production capacity in the steel industries of each of the member States of the EEC and in the EEC as a whole during the third and fourth quarters of 1977, respectively.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldProduction of crude steel in EEC member States for the third and fourth quarters of 1977 expressed as a percentage of production capability was as follows:
§ Mr. CryerI have also been asked to reply to the Question addressed to the Secretary of State for Trade.
A large number of car manufacturers, both British and foreign—as with other products—offer discounts of varying kinds from time to time as a means of boosting their sales. Reductions in interest rates are one means of offering such discounts. The Government are of course very concerned at the current high level of car imports, but it is not possible to isolate the effects on the car industry of this kind of sales promotion measure.