CUSTOMS TARIFF

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 98, 19 January 1921, Page 8

CUSTOMS TARIFF

PREPARATIONS FOR REVISION MR. MASSEY WILL PILOT THE BILL Preparations for the revision of the Customs tariff next session of Parliament are proceeding. A Departmental committee of experts has been gathering information and receiving suggestions for some time past, and a good deal of the preliminary work in connection with the improvement of the tariff has already been done. The work will continue until Parliament: meets, when the draft tariff is expected to bo ready for consideration by a committee of the House of Representatives. The amendment of the tariff is an exceedingly complex operation, and the interests to be guarded are many and varying. Adequate protection of local industries, the prevention of unnecessary inflation of prices, the promotion of new industries, and the provision of a basis for tariff ’bargains with other countries (notably with Australia) are some of the points that demand attention. It is understood that the experts have given careful consideration to the new Australian tariff, which admittedly confers advantages on Australian manufacturers and producers at the expense of New Zealand. . The Prime Minister proposes to take charge of the Tariff Bill when it is before °the House of Representatives. The present Minister of Customs is Sir M illiam Berries, but Sir AVilliam has arranged to pay a visit to Britain shortly and he will resign his portfolios before he leaves New Zealand. Air. Alassey is undertaking a formidable task, for the piloting of the Bill through the House will involve him in the study of a great mass of detail.