To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the contributions being made by British companies to the aerospace industry in Europe and the United States of America.

I am well aware of the significant contribution made by United Kingdom companies to the aerospace industry worldwide; indeed the United Kingdom has a large trade surplus in aerospace products. United Kingdom firms are prominent in all areas of the industry—as aircraft and aero-engine manufacturers, as partners in international collaborative programmes such as Airbus, EFA and the V2500 engine, and as major suppliers of equipment and components to other European and United States manufacturers such as Fokker, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas.