asked the Secretary of State for Trade (1) what steps he can take to prevent the dumping of ships on the international market;(2) what evidence he has of foreign nations, in particular Japan, dumping ships on the international market.

My Department has no evidence that ships are being dumped by Japanese or other shipbuilders. If the British industry were to submit evidence that ships were being dumped into the United Kingdom and that this dumping was causing or threatening material injury to them, we should be prepared to consider action under the Customs Duties (Dumping and Subsidies) Act 1969. But the ships sales market is primarily international, and the Secretary of State has no powers to take action where goods are being dumped outside the United Kingdom.