§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will outline the restraints or barriers to the United Kingdom's industry and commerce in seeking to expand business with Japan which Her Majesty's Government are seeking to remove; (2) how many representations he has received from Unted Kingdom manufacturers and traders about alleged restrictions on trade imposed by Japan in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FletcherRecords of representations are not kept in a way which permits ready enumeration.
Our main concerns are about the persistent structural resistance to manufactured imports and financial controls which tend to inhibit the appreciation of the yen. There is also room for action on certain tariffs, quotas and import procedures.
The Japanese Government have responded with a number of packages of measures to promote imports. The latest of these, announced last week, is still being analysed.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the average level of percentage tariffs imposed on imports by the European Economic Community; and what information he has as to the similar percentage imposed by Japan.
§ Mr.FletcherThe Community agreed in the Tokyo round of multilateral trade negotiations, 1973–79, to reduce its tariff on industrial goods from an average trade weighted level of 9.8 per cent. to an average level of 7.5 per cent. (by January 1987). Japan estimates that, following implementation of the Tokyo round agreement, its effective average tariff rate will be about 3 per cent.