§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will estimate the total cost to United Kingdom businesses of lost exports as a result of the imposition of trade sanctions on British products by the Government of the United States of America. [79186]
§ Mr. WilsonUS Customs are currently withholding liquidation on some $500m-worth of EU export goods. The United States is likely to be given World Trade Organisation authority on 19 April to retaliate against $191.4m-worth of EU goods. The sectors that are expected to be included in this authorised retaliation, and the annual value of UK exports is as follows.
505W
£ million US tariff code Description US imports from UK 1997 Total 26.8 85072080 Batteries 13.78 33073050 Bath Oils 7.29 49119120 Lithographs 2.20 63022190 Bed linen 1.48 48192000 Cartons 1.42 85167100 Coffee makers 0.37 42023210 Wallets 0.13 42022215 Handbags 0.09 48055000 Felt Paper 0.02 Source:
European Commission
It is difficult to say what the actual impact on the targeted sectors will be, as much will depend on how long any retaliatory measures remain in place, what steps were taken to bring forward orders from the US, and the ability of affected companies to find alternative customers for their goods. Some limited damage will have been caused to sectors which were on but have now been removed from the retaliatory list, due to the uncertainty caused in recent months. However, we believe that the Government's prompt response in offering a bond and duty guarantee scheme for the cashmere knitwear industry pre-empted the serious risk of severe and lasting damage being done to that industry.
§ Jane GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he plans to announce measures to assist(a) the fine print industry and (b) other industries in respect of action taken by the US Government as a result of the banana dispute. [80023]
§ Mr. WilsonThe removal of some sectors from the US retaliation list on 9 April was welcome, but other sectors remain targeted, including lithographs. The Government brought forward a bond guarantee scheme in respect of cashmere knitwear in response to the particular circumstances of that industry, especially its highly seasonal nature. The need for the scheme has now been removed, and we have no plans to put in place something similar for other industries on the US list.
We now need urgent consultations with all the parties involved in the dispute on the options for reforming the banana regime, and on a solution that would avoid US retaliation taking effect.