§ Mr. Teddy TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has received assurances from each member state of the EEC that they will permit the import, without restriction, of cars produced in the United Kingdom by firms in Japanese ownership; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RidleyThe European Commission received an assurance from the French Government in April last year that cars produced in Sunderland by Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK Ltd. would be allowed to enter France without restriction and quite independently of the level of car imports into France from Japan.
No member state currently restricts in any way the import of cars produced in the United Kingdom.
503WThe Commission has suggested that, during the transitional period over which it envisages that existing restrictions on imports of cars from Japan should be phased out, it may be necessary to take into account in some way the production of cars by Japanese-owned firms in the EC. The Government have made it clear that there is no question of the United Kingdom accepting any arrangement in which cars produced by Japanese-owned firms in the United Kingdom, or anywhere other than Japan, count towards ceilings on imports from Japan.