ANTI-DUMPING

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 3, 5 January 1932, Page 8

ANTI-DUMPING

NO TIME TO TALK

QUESTION OF TARIFFS

ME. A3IEETS ATTITUDE

(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, 18th November. Mr. Amery opened the debate in which the President of the Board' of Trade made his anti-dumping announcement. Like other speeches, Mr. Amery saw- in the result of the election a mandate for action and not'for prolonged debate. . Protection, he said, was not' regarded by those who advocated it as a panacea for all the evils'of the Nation, but they did think that without it the work which lay beyond could not ba effectively carried out. 'They did not tlnnk that, the problem of imperial co-operation would be settled', when they got the first scheme of mutual Imperial preference. Nor did.they forget that, tariffs or no tariffs, ■ great economic and social.questions remained for settlement. He thought the House desired that the Government should produce something in the nature, of a Five Year Plan. (Hear, hear). : Any structure that might be raised could 1)9 built securely only upon a foundation o economy. The only purpose for which an election was necessary was to empower the Government-to embark o_n a new fiscal policy. The one specific weapon for which the Prime Minister asked was that of a change in fiscal policy, and the mandate given by the country was a mandate for prompt action; for business and not so much'talk. (Cheers). As he.understood the' programme of the Government it was to' consist of three parts—the Imperial Conference, to be held not earlier than July; a tariff, he presumed in February; and pending the tariff emergeny powers to deal with dumping or forestalling. H9 had grave doubts whether such a. programme was either what the nation expected or what- the national' emergence demanded. (Cheers). He regretted the postponement of. the date of the Imperial Conference, but he' knew how difficult it was to'arrange, a, date suitable to every Government in ths Empire, and he was not prepared to quarrel with the position of the Government. There were two ways of dealing with the matter.: One "was-to'prepare more or less in vaeuo.Board of Trade figures and so on; to enterupon a/general touring discussion ' and then approach the conference, which- would pass general resolutions, which •were only the starting point ' of detailed negotiations and the final conclusion of an agreement. He did not believe the Empire could afford to wait for the time that would be involved in following that method. . URGENCY STRESSED. : The oniy satisfactory way to deal with the Imperial Conference that.was to take place in July, was -.first of all to decide here and now what protection we were going to give to our own agriculture—(cheers)—for its own sake and in the interests of the balance of trade, and what preferences we.should'automatically give, as far as that, matter depended on ourselves alone; and secondly, to make up our minds broadly what further concession we were prepared to make to the Dominions in re. turn for a valuable equivalent and then, to begin to negotiate at once with: our Dominions ;indH-idua]]y the terni3 of a, mutual trade agreement. With/the: High Commissioners and such business men as the Government here, and each Government oversea could appoint negotiations should be begun here before the end.of this year upon principles agreed within, the' Cabinet. A series of agreements: might be ■ completed which an Imperial Conference could link up and confirm. .- : • They hoped the emergency ■ proposals would, deal with forestalling, and ■ deal simultaneously with dumping in the sense of goods sent here below th« cost of sale in their own. country. Valuable as those proposals would be, they could only- touch : the fringe of the really critical situation with regard to the pound, to employment,, and the revenue of the cquntry. They could not effect any very substantial reduction in the total gross volume, of our imports or in the total adverse balance of trade. There was no other concerv;able means of dealing, with, that than some broad tariff extending'- to the whole range, of our imports, and applied without delay. In fact, it was not emergency powers, that were required, but an emergency tariff. It would be said, arid said truly, that there must be some inquiry, inquiry for what? Surely not into • the■ principle of the question. If there''wera minds that after 30 years of discussion had not yet been made up on thequestion of principle and were not, onthat question of principle, prepared to -act together, then the place for those• minds was either the philosopher's chamber or the Opposition Front Bench. He hoped the President !of the Board of Trade would'reassure the House, not only on the relatie'vly minor matter of dumping or forestalling, but that on the whole question the Government meant to act, both-in the scope of: their action and-in'the date'of their action, in a sense corresponding'to thf1 gravity and urgency of the 'situation (Cheers). . THE NEW DUTIES. , It is understood that the Government by its Anti-Dumping measure^■ hopes ,t----protect the.pound. The tendency; ha been revealed during the -last, fe'-! weeks to rush goods into this cpunti for two purposes: ': . - . <1). to escape the Customs , duti> ' which it was felt Britain was • boundimpose, and ' ' , ■ ;"...". .(2) to transfer stocks held-by-ft eign countries into capital in order ; meet forthcoming debts. ' The object of the Bill .is' to :fo?. stall both these tendencies and-to.p* serve a right of way for a prudent at careful examination of the applicati of scientific tariffs and the, stabsation of the pound. ■ ■ ' Last month the total imports of s country amounted to £80,684,561. '.a class of goods affected by the propod new powers represented £27,248,713>f the aggregate. : . • The Board of Trade >vill watch ie course, of trade from day to day ad will take action only where actions called for by the facts of the case/ If it is found that certain goodare being imported at a rate in exceaof the normal, the tendency wilibe checked by a duty. • If the rate of importation in anyoar- ■ ticular case should amount to a ood* the machinery of prohibition wl be brought into operation by the imposition of the maximum duty 0 100 per cent. ' ■ ■ The duties (which will be imosed by Board of Trade order and »t by Order 111 Council) will varyaccordng tc the extent of the danger of abDrma importation. They will be desigied.t. suit tho individual case. Whestb - normal rate of . importation is mai* tamed in any class of goods' andis vk . exceeded, no special-action bT is Board need be expected. ■ "' Some of the goods contained:in i» • whole or mainly manufactured classre already sub.iect to Customs duties-or example, silk, key industry- gods,, motor-cars, films, clocks,' watches/oil and petrol. If any of these .'alredy taxed goods are ' brought :under -th( new Bill, the "Runciman duties »»"-idJ. operate in addition fc6- the exisia • duties. . . . ;.-..; _____ ;.