asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the visible trade deficit with Japan during the last 12 months for which figures are available; and how this compares with the previous 12 months.

In the period from September 1984 to August 1985 the United Kingdom had a crude visible trade deficit of £3,086 million with Japan. This compares with a deficit of £2,723 million for the previous 12 months.

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on recent moves by the Japanese Government to liberalise exports to Japan from the free world.

The Japanese Government's action programme announced on 30 July proposes a wide range of measures to improve access to Japan's domestic market. The Community is studying how far the action programme meets the Community's stated objective of achieving a significant and sustained increase in the level of Japan's imports of manufactures.