Manawatu Evening Standard. MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1925. AMERICAN TRADE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLV, Issue 122, 27 April 1925, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1925. AMERICAN TRADE.

America’s persistence in closing the door against imports by increasing the high tariff wall with which it has surrounded itself, is very unfair to our traders, more particularly because so many of the lines the latter are hi the habit of importing come into active competition not only with our local products, but also with other products and manufactures which are obtainable from countries within the British Empire, to say nothing of the Mother Country with which, theoretically, we express our preference to deal, if the American tanner is in the bad way the American Farm Bureau suggests in its petition to the Federal Tariff Commission to recommend President Cooiidge to raise the tariff on butter from eight to twelve cents per lb (roughly from 4d to (xl) lie must indeed be in a bad way. The idea that New Zealand is dumping butter on to the American market seems not only far fetched, but absurd. A certain amount of butter and other dairy produce is apparently entering American markets from New Zealand, but the export value is so trilling compared with the total value of the New Zealand output, that it may be regarded as almost negligible from the trading standpoint. As a matter of fact, during the last four years of which the records are available in the 1925 Official Year Book, the total value of butter exported from New Zealand overseas was £33,922,519, and of that total only £477,242 was forwarded to the United States. Considering .that the United States, according to a leading member of the National Dairy Council, produces annually 2,000,000,001) pounds of butter, and that, according to the Washington telegram published on Thursday all the storage butter in the United States has been consumed, it is difficult to see how the importation of even 25,000,000 11> of butter has had an appreciable effect upon the American farm output. It is probably true that New Zealand it potentially a greater competitor with the American farmer than Denmark, because Denmark appears to have reached its maximum output, while New Zealand production is still on the increase. But, while our traders continue to deal with America it is very necessary some interchange of trade should take place; because, unless the United States is prepared to purchase our products, the available gold supply in New Zealand would soon be exhausted, and we should find the exchango rates increasing against us in greater proportion than formerly. An import tax of 6d iff the £ would place a big handicap on New Zealand butter; but, on the testimony of Professor Mackin, of the University of Wisconsin, New Zealand butter is very much superior to that produced in the United States, arid, he says, that ho is convinced butter producers in New Zealand are far ahead of American in the matter of modern methods of producing, and in business arrangements, and so they are able to make butter at a lower cost than is possible in the United States. That may possibly bo regarded as an argument in favour of the imposition of a dumping duty, but it is a poor one at the best. Sinfilar arguments would probably he used against the introduction into America of other New Zealand products which compete with those of the United States. There is evident need for the re-consideration of the position, so far as trado with America is concerned, and our merchants and importers would therefore do well

to restrict their dealings with America to tlie lowest possible level while she maintains her hostile tariff against us.