16.
asked the Secretary of State for Trade what proportion of United Kingdom imports consisted of manufactured goods during the latest 12-month period for which figures are available; and what was the corresponding proportion five years ago.
In the 12 months ended October 1978, imports of manufactured goods accounted for 63 per cent. by value of our total imports, compared with a figure of 56 per cent. for the year 1973.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his answer, but does he not agree that its meaning is catastrophic for the British economy? Is he aware that much of the increase in the importation of manufactured goods arises from decisions by large multinational companies to import manufactured goods into Britain as a matter of company policy? Is he further aware that this has nothing to do with the operation of any alleged laws of free trade? Does he agree, therefore, that this points to the urgent need for planning agreements which incorporate international trading policy?
I do not believe that the situation is as catastrophic as my hon. Friend suggests. It probably represents a structural change in the pattern of our imports which brings the level of imports of manufactures in the United Kingdom more or less into line with the position in Germany, France and the United States. If anything, the import propensity for manufactured goods has been higher in those countries since 1973.
On the second part of the question, I entirely agree with my hon. Friend and I strongly urge the expansion of planning agreements to ensure that the multinational companies and the nation achieve their objectives.Does the Minister understand that the figures he has quoted illustrating the relative decline of manufacturing industry in the past four years have particularly damaging consequences for jobs and living standards in the West Midlands where Coventry, Birmingham and the Black Country are so heavily dependent on this kind of industry? Does he realise that the latest increase in the minimum lending rate will worsen the situation in that it will lead to less vital investment being made in the future?
The minimum lending rate is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In no sense did the figures I gave suggest that there had necessarily been a relative decline in manufacturing. Although there has been an increase in the level of manufactured imports, that was more or less matched by an increase in the level of manufactured exports. Last year our manufactured exports grew by 8 per cent., which was twice the increase in world trade.