asked the Secretary of State for Trade, further to his reply of 3 December to the hon. Member for Rugby, what steps he intends to take to improve the present balance of trade with (a) France, (b) Germany, (c) Netherlands, (d) Italy and (e) the EEC as a whole.

The Government are fully conscious of the need to ensure that our industry is competitive so that our international trading position can be improved in relation to all markets. Our policies are directed to creating the right conditions to achieve this objective.