HC Deb 21 March 1994 vol 240 cc38-9W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish figures for British imports of semi-manufactures from(a) inside and (b) outside the EC for the three months ending in January and for the same period a year ago and in 1990; which import categories, which exporting countries, and which user industries account for the bulk of the change; what were the corresponding changes in the level of United Kingdom output of like goods over the same periods; and by how much the import content of goods produced in the United Kingdom has changed as a result.

Mr. Needham

Summary information regarding total United Kingdom imports of semi-manufactures, on a balance of payments basis, is available only up to December 1993 and was published by the Central Statistical Office in "First Release, Balance of United Kingdom visible trade-December 1993", CSO(94)47. The most recent figures for imports from non-EC countries only, for January 1994, were published in "First Release, Balance of trade with countries outside the EC-January 1994," CSO(94)38.

More detailed information, on an "Overseas Trade Statistics" basis, is published in the December 1993 issue of the Business Monitor MM20, "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom with countries outside the European Community (Extra—EC Trade)" and the third quarter 1993 issue of Business Monitor MQ20, "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom with countries within the European Community (Intra-EC Trade: Intrastat)". These are available in the Library of the House.

Figures for 1990, by country, are not available on the balance of payments basis. The 1990 figures for individual countries, on an "Overseas Trade Statistics" basis, are available from Business Monitor MA20, "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom". Copies of the publication are also available in the Library of the House.

Due to major differences between the industrial and trade classifications, it is not possible to provide comparable information on United Kingdom production and employment.

It is not possible to identify industries importing semi-manufactures. Figures for the import content of United Kingdom output of finished manufactures are not available.

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