AMERICA’S DAIRY INDUSTRY

Hokitika Guardian, 7 January 1929, Page 8

AMERICA’S DAIRY INDUSTRY

FOSTER EH BY HEAVY TARIFFS. IMPORTS STILL PERSIST. The position of the American market is of considerable interest to New Zealand dairy farmers, as quite a substantial proportion of our dairy produce has gone to U.S.A. in recent months. According to latest official advices the efforts of legislators to retain for American farmers the entire dairy food requirements of close on PA) million people have met with partial success. Tariffs, high before, have been raised still higher. Presumably, prices to the consumers have risen accordingly, as importation, although checked, still takes place. Officialdom declares that the people arc not consuming sufficient dairy food stuffs pethead from the point of view of public health. Important information on this subject is contained in the annual report of the United States Government Department of Agriculture, an advance copy of which lias been forwarded to New Zealand.

The chapter commenting on world dairy productions says : “ Foreign dairy production appears to be increasing more rapidly than production in the United States., but the recovery of European buying power and increases in our import tariff rates have held imports in check and have maintained prices in the United States above foreign market prices. Dairy production lias developed very rapidly in the Southern Hemisphere in recent years.

“ Increases in the tariff rates on butter, cheese, and milk have checked, but not stopped imports of dairy products. In 1920 the United States imported 37,000,000 lbs of butter. Following the enactment of tho tariff, imports dropped to 7,000,000 in 1922, but, this was only a temporary decline, as in 1923 imports amounted ’,24,000.000 lbs. 'l’lie increase in the tariff on butter from Sto 12 cents per lb, effective March 6th, 1926, did not eliminate imports, but lias held them to ‘ about 8,000,000 lbs per year in the past two years. The increase in the import duty on Swiss cheese from 25 to 375 per cent, ad valorem, effective July Sth, 1927, had a temporary effect in the checking of imports of cheese from Switzerland, but in the past few months imports have again recovered to abut the same level as before the tariff went into effect. Imports ol milk and cream from Canada have increased from 2,>580,000 gallons in 1919 to 7,479,000 gallons in 1926. Sanitary regulations, effective May 15, 1927, temporarily reduced imports; but a quick recovery from this reduction is to be expected.” The report says that consumption ol dairy products is increasing annually in tiie United States, part of the gain being attributable to normal growth of population and part to an increase in per capita consumption. “Nevertheless,” adds the report, “ the consumption is not yet up to the level most desirable from a. public health standpoint. Additional increases may be expected from continued effort to improve the quality of dairy products, and from educational work to acquaint, the public with the reasons for according a larger place for dairy products in the diet. As a matter of fact there is room for an increase in both the production and the consumption of dairy products in the United States. This country not entirely self sufficient in (lie production of dairy products. For several years it has bad an annual import balance equivalent, to about 1,000,000 lbs of fluid milk, due largely to the importation of certain varieties of cheese from Switzerland. Franco and Italy. There has also been a small import balance of butter and dry milk.”