Question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value was of (a) tear gas, (b) rubber bullets and (c) riot shields exported to the US in each of the last five years.
Answered on
9 June 2020
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are responsible for the collection and publication of data on UK imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC release this information monthly, as a National Statistic: the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics.
The trade data collected does not enable HMRC to distinguish exports of tear gas from other spring, air or gas guns and pistols or truncheons. The trade data collected also does not enable HMRC to distinguish exports of rubber bullets from other ammunition and projectiles or riot shields from other plastic articles.
However, there is aggregated trade data available for the goods and periods requested on the uktradeinfo website, under ‘Build your own data tables’. The site also contains a ‘Help’ function with information on how to extract trade data.
Trade data relating to all spring, air and gas guns and pistols and truncheons exported to the US can be found using commodity code 9304000000. Trade data relating to the value of all ammunition and projectiles can be searched for using commodity code 9306909000. Trade data relating to riot shields and other plastic articles can be found using commodity code 3926909790.