BRITISH TRADE.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 July 1925, Page 2

BRITISH TRADE.

BALFOUR COM.MITT EE REPORT

[Australia A N.Z. table Association

LONDON. July II

Lord Arthur Balfour’s Committee of Industry and Trade, set up in .July last year, in surveying oversea markets fur British exports, points out that, though Britain is retaining her snare of world trade, the great i-eihu-tii'll thereof mean.- a -illis'.untial reduction in the'aelun! volume ol British trade which is due to a decline of tin' purchasing power of the local population, and to the growth also of the local manufacturers, as well a- in the displacement of British imparts by those of other countries. The decline i:i the purchasing power, however. i' a factor ol decreasing importance, whereas the growth of the local

limiiulaettire is the most important „ue. Thus great efforts are being made to develop large industries in Australia, particularly in the case ot woollens. The growth ol local manttis'.etures is being also assisted by the import restrictions imposed, and the subsidies granted, but thu increase in tie tariff's since 811 7 ha - not thu.- lar been tin important laetor in retarding a recovery ol British trade. The Balfour Committee report says : The average incidence ol the Emptr. 1 tariff on British good-, i- sliJ lowei than the foreign incidence, the proportion being L'it to seventeen. Only Soviet Russia has Elate Control, which has materially affected British trade, but the development ot state-owned commercial shipping;, which claims immunity from liseal and other obligations lulling upon oilier trades, is an unfair form of discrimination, and should lie abolished. Generally. British, trade is treated at lea-t as lavotirably on foreign markets as any exporting country. In ail the seli-govern-tag dominions. Brtti-h exports enjoy a substantial preference, which has I,ecu increased materially since the war. The preferential advantage is now nine per cent ail \a!oivm. instead of four. The increase of the tariff preference in the ia so ul Australia and New Zealand has been at least eight to SI per cent. In Canada, the increase has been 2.1 per cent. Tlie per coinage of British exports consigned to the Dominions which is being given customs preference has risen Irom twenty-three to twenty-six per cent ol the total value of Lhe British export trade.

The world, says the report, is still poorer for the wastage ol the war hut. no doubt, a recovery is taking place. It must he hoped that restrictions npoll commercial intercourse will lm mitigated by an international agreement. MAY ZEALAND. A review of New Zealand’s trail.’ occupies fourteen pages. It says New Zealand’s imports per head are the highest in the world, amounting to t-'.'i.'i per inhabitant. The New Zealand government has adopted the most definite policy in favour of British goods, and the sentiment there in favour of British products is exceedingly strong. In no country in the world do British maiiufa.'lurers find a more favourable market than in New Zealand. It would be advisable for British manufacturers to send representatives to study the local requirements of the Dominions. Thus far the Americans have heen more active than the British in this. The " Daily Express ” commends the Balfour Committee’s report as showing a detachment from ourreiii controversies. and is dealing with the situation in a scientific spirit. Apparently, it says, Britain must anticipate increasing dillii ulty in selling her goods on her old-established markets, while even in her own homo markets, competition will he keener than in the pre-war days. 'The " Daily Telegraph ” in an editorial. stresses the value of the Dominions' preference. Bl! IT ISI I TREATY WITH GERMANY. RERUN'. July 11. The German Government has encountered Parliamentary snags over the ratification of the Anglo-German coniniervial treaty. which has heen referred to a committee wherein the German National Party have demanded an exhaustive report on the British Imperial Customs preferences. The committee also recommend the Government to negotiate with Britain with a view to extending an agreement to the ex-German colonies.