§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what factors account for the change in the United Kingdom crude balance of trade in manufactures with West Germany from minus £96 million in 1970 to minus £3,321 million in 1982.
§ Mr. ChannonThe change is mainly accounted for by a greater imbalance of trade in sections 6 and 7 of the standard international trade classification. These include specialised industrial machinery, iron and steel, and road vehicles.—Divisions 78, 72 plus 67.
§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what factors account for the change in the United Kingdom crude balance of trade in manufactures with the Republic of Ireland from plus £163 million in 1970 to plus £547 million in 1982.
§ Mr. ChannonThe change reflects a reduced surplus in the balance of trade in section 7 of the standard international trade classification, a rate of growth in sections 5 and 6 greater in the case of imports than of exports, and an increased surplus in the balance of trade in section 8. In our trade in manufactured goods with the Irish Republic in 1982, the largest surplus was in articles of clothing and the largest deficit in automatic data processing equipment and office machinery—divisions 84 and 75 respectively of the standard international trade classification (Revision 2).