BRITISH TRADE AND THE TARIFF

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2445, 26 April 1915, Page 7

BRITISH TRADE AND THE TARIFF

IMPORTANT FACTS. Mr. W. G. Wickham, British Trade Commissioner, has addressed tho following letter to the president of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce:— "I have read tho report of your address to tho Wellington Chamber of Commerce with much interest. You are quoted as saying: 'Others favour a preferential tariff, which exists already, and has no doubt had a great effcct; but wo must not forget that we are only taxing ourselves hy such a tariff. It means that wo pay more for things than we otherwise would.'

_ "It has struck me as curious ever sinco I arrived in New Zealand that so little general interest is taken in tho tariff and its effects. Tho public and even well-informed business men and high Government officials frequently indicate a belief that there is a stiff preferential duty on all foreign goods. No statistics had ever been compiled to Bhow what proportion of the imports are so dealt with, and no attempt had been made to gauge the effect of preferential duties. For the last three years this has been done in my office, and the figures, published in my annual reports have not been considered worth copying or commenting on. ''As I have shown, the preferential tariff only affects 30 per cent, of the total imports. The extra preferential duty is paid on less than £1,500,000 worth of foreign goods. Of tho goods imported from the United Kingdom in 1913, £8,419,000 worth, or 64.6 per cent., came in without tariff assistance. Until 1912 the Government paid no duty and consequently ignored in their purchases the preference prescribed by the tariff.

"The above are root facts germane to any discussion on the tariff, and which should be, but are not, generally known. While 1 am precluded from soliciting tariff assistance for British goods, I am obviously permitted to call attention to facts such as these, especially in view of the fact of the widespread belief that the tariff assistance now given is very much greater than it actually is. "There is one further point frequently overlooked and which I think is worth mentioning in relation to the above quotation from your address. In a very large proportion of cases the effect of a preferential duty is to add to the cost of the cheaper article and so induce the public to buy a slightly more expensive article 6f very much greater real value. In such iinos as boots, cutlery and hollow-ware, the tariff'tends to promote'the sale of better-quality goods, the purchase of which is, as you know, an economy in the long run. Tile price of these is not enhanced because they do not pay the extra duty. Your statement, 'We are taxing ourselves,' therefore, does not meet the case fully. In many cases the public buy betterquality goods and therefore effect economy ;• and at the same time, as they do not buy the foreign goods, they are not taxed."