CONSULTING ON TARIFFS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 30, 5 February 1932, Page 6

CONSULTING ON TARIFFS

„.. The complaint made by the Auckland branch of the Farmers' Union of failure to. consult the farmers concerning the Belgian Trade -Treaty Is one which cannot be. sustained. The terms of the protest were wholly unwarranted—especially the, suggestion that "proprietary interests" had been favourably treated, and "pracj tically no consideration" given to produce handled by the farmers, andi that "as a matter of common decency" farmers should have been considered. The Minister of Customs and his advisers are not inexperienced. They know what New Zealand has to sell, and if they could have obtained more favourable terms for our staple products they would surely not have neglected the opportunity. But a trade treaty is not a" one-sided agreement. . Having explored the ground thoroughly—and this trade treaty was in process of negotiation for a long time—the parties on both sides must either make the best bargain they can or abandon negotiations. We certainly could have wished for a more favourable agreement with Belgium, but the fact that the treaty does not go so far as we wished is not a sound reason for condemning it. The question is whether it is better than no agreement. As New Zealand has,:obtained some valuable concessions we think the value of the treaty must be acknowledged. We cannot see that it would have been improved by more consultation._ Such consulting could not stop with the farmers. It would have had to extend to importers and exporters who were interested or wished to be considered. This would probably have merely confirmed the Minister's own view of the relative importance of various items. But it would not " have compelled the Belgian Government to give way. The Dominion Executive of the Farmers' Union showed good judgment in refusing to endorse the protest.