§ Lord Shore of Stepneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What were the average level of tariffs imposed by (a) the United States and (b) Canada on exports from the United Kingdom; and what were the average level of tariffs imposed by the United Kingdom on imports from (a) the United States and (b) Canada in 1972, 1982, 1992 and the latest available 12-month period. [HL4334]
§ The Minister for Science, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)It is likely that the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. This is mainly because consistent time-series for tariffs imposed by the US and Canada on UK exports, and UK tariffs imposed on US and Canadian exports are not readily available in published form.
In addition, in the case of agricultural products, tariffs are not the main means of protecting domestic producers from overseas competition, and any 109WA available tariff data are likely to give a misleading indication of the relative openness of the three markets in question.
However some data are available on average tariffs applicable to imports of industrial products from all Most. Favoured Nation trading partners preceding and following various rounds of multilateral trade negotiations. The Table below shows average industrial tariff rates before the Tokyo Round Agreement, after the Tokyo Round Agreement, and after full implementation of the Uruguay Round Agreement. Tokyo Round negotiations took place during 1973–1979, while the Uruguay Round negotiations took place during 1986–93.
Most Favoured Nation Bound Industrial Tariff Averages Import-Weighted Averages % USA EU Canada Pre-Tokyo Round 6.4 6.6 12.7 Pre-Uruguay Round 5.4 5.7 9.0 Post-Uruguay Round* 3.5 3.6 4.8 *When fully implemented. Excludes petroleum products. Sources: GATT: The Tokyo Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations Part II Jan 1980
GATT: The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations 1994
110WA
Most Favoured Nation Bound Industrial Tariff Averages Simple Averages % USA EU Canada Pre-Tokyo Round 11.3 9.1 12.6 Pre-Uruguay Round 6.3 6.4 7.3
Most Favoured Nation Bound Industrial Tariff Averages Simple Averages % USA EU Canada Post-Uruguay Round 3.9 3.7 4.2 *When fully implemented. Excluded petroleum products Sources: GATT The Tokyo Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations Part II Jan 1980
WTO Integrated Database
Notes:
Tokyo Round negotiations took place during 1973–1979.
Uruguay Round negotiations took place during 1986–93.
Implementation periods for Uruguay Round tariff cuts ranged up to 10 years.