further back, in the years 1975-77 the NICs together accounted for
30 per cent of our trade surplus in manufactures. In 1977 this.
represented a surplus of £14 billion.
4.
This dynamic growth in the NICs domestic markets is continuing
at a time when growth in world trade is faltering. So it is
particularly important for British exporters to seize and exploit
the opportunities arising in NIC markets. This should, I believe,
be a central theme in our trade strategy for the 1980's.
infour
Liberalisation of NIC import regimes
5. I have deliberately started by emphasising the potential for
British exports to the NICs. This is because I prefer to see them
as an opportunity and a challenge to British industry, rather than
as a threat. I am very much aware, in this connection, that South
Korea and other NICs have not run up huge surpluses on current account.
Instead rising export earnings have been spent on rising imports of
goods and services. We warmly welcome this.responsible attitude.
6. But this overall balance conceals a lack of equal trading
opportunities on the two sides. In many of the most advanced and
competitive developing countries, imports of manufactures are largely
confined to products which these countries do not themselves make. In
other areas, notably consumer goods, they cling to highly protective
import regimes. These regimes may have served a purpose in the past.
They do not, in my view, do so any longer. It is, I believe, in the
interests of the NICs themselves for the
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whole range of manufacturing to be opened up to international
competition.