§ Mr. Gordon BrownTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the balance of trade in each of the following goods and services for(a) the second quarter of 1988 and (b) the second quarter of 1987 (i) passenger motor cars, (ii) other consumer goods, (iii) machine tools, (iv) instrument engineering, (v) tourism and (vi) banking and insurance services.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkQuarterly estimates of earnings from the banking and insurance services are not available. The balance of trade for the remaining goods and services is given in the table:
United Kingdom Balance of Trade £ million Second quarter 1987 Second quarter 1988 Passenger motor cars -840.0 -1,316.9 Other consumer goods -1,119.2 -1,515.4 Machine tools -0.5 -20.2 Instrument engineering -137.0 -160.0 Tourism -307.0 -550.0 Note: All figures provisional
§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing for the last 12 months of available figures the overall balance of trade of the United Kingdom in respect of (a) the European Economic Community and (b) the rest of the world showing for each the percentage of both overall trade and of the respective surpluses or deficits.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkInformation on United Kingdom trade with EC and the rest of the world is in the table. Because the overall trade balance comprises both surpluses and deficits it is not meaningful to express components as percentages.
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United Kingdom Trade, 12 months to June 1988 £ billion BoP basis Exports Imports Balance Total trade (exports plus imports) Trade with: EC 39.2 50.6 -11.4 89.8 Rest of World 40.6 44.1 -3.5 84.6 World 79.8 94.7 -14.9 174.5 Source: Monthly Review of External Trade Statistics.