§ Mr. Warrenasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the progress of British-Soviet trade since the visit of the Prime Minister to the Soviet Union this year.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkI was very encouraged by the high level of interest in trade and industrial co-operation shown by both sides during my visit to the Soviet Union for the UK/ USSR joint commission in mid-October. I was accompanied to Moscow by senior members of several United Kingdom companies and they were able to join me in calls on Soviet industrial Ministries which have now the right to engage in foreign trade directly. There is considerable potential which I hope that British companies will exploit energetically, with the full support of Her Majesty's Government, so that the increase in bilateral trade by 40 per cent. in 1990, as discussed by the Prime Minister with Mr. Ryzhkov in March, can be achieved.
§ Mr. Warrenasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will publish a table of export and import trade between each of the member states of the European Economic Community and the Soviet Union during each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement on the trends indicated therein.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkThe figures are in the following table. Exports from the Community have shown little variation in recent years (in dollar terms) while imports have declined in recent years mainly because of reduced oil imports and the fall in the price of oil. The Community's overall deficit with the Soviet Union is about half its level four years ago.
705W
European Community countries' trade with the USSR US$ million exports (fob) 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 Bel./Lux. 536 665 547 632 496 Denmark 87 77 117 135 184 France 1,556 2,231 1,954 1,896 1,532 Germany 3,869 4,418 3,800 3,603 4,319 Greece 141 143 121 142 78 Ireland 43 60 22 36 61 Italy 1,510 1,877 1,586 1,528 1,618 Netherlands 424 534 303 342 334 Portugal 52 51 56 70 51 Spain 220 334 357 441 238 United Kingdom 623 675 982 696 791 E. C. 12 9,061 11,063 9,846 9,521 9,703 imports (cif) Bel./Lux. 1,468 1,154 1,858 1,256 1,047 Denmark 328 271 331 286 205 France 2,858 2,811 2,550 2,453 2,647 Germany 4,473 4,444 4,894 4,630 4,204 Greece 221 247 508 532 284
exports (fob) 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 Ireland 54 50 51 51 41 Italy 3,541 3,593 4,039 2,980 2,324 Netherlands 2,571 2,627 2,207 2,328 1,046 Portugal 101 84 61 55 51 Spain 493 495 537 383 299 United Kingdom 1,129 1,105 1,142 939 1,018 E. C. 12 17,235 16,882 18,177 15,893 13,166 Source: OECD Series 'A' (via I. P. Sharp).