A STEADY DECLINE

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12614, 26 November 1926, Page 8

A STEADY DECLINE

GOODS FROM BRITAIN BUYING POWER REDUCED EXCEPT IN MOTOR VEHICLES Just how far New Zealand trades with the Homeland was elucidated in a report presented last evening to the Association of British Manufacturers and Agents, to which extensive figures were given showing the percentage of our imports which came from the United Kingdom. “All sectional reports—except the motor vehicle section,’’ stated the report, “reflect in varying degrees the reduced buying power of the community consequent upon the lower prices at present obtainable for the primary products of the Dominion. The value of the Dominion exports for the nine months ending September 30th, 1926, amounted to £37,346,920;, the_ figures for the corresponding period in 1925 are £44,191,254. These figures disclose a very serious reduction, of £6,344,344. Our imports for the same period, namely, nine months to September, 1926, amounted to £37,404,368, and for the same period in 1925 the figure was £38,234,807; a reduction for the current year of £830,439. Our trade with United Kingdom over the same period amounted to: Exports, 1925, £34,901,839; 1926, £29,026,688. Imports, 1925, £18,333,440; 1926, £17,311,132. The above figures reveal the fact that imports have not deolined in proportion to the large deficit in the export values. GOING DOWN. “Therefore it is obvious some adjustment will follow tending to decrease importations. In some degree this is already reflected in several trade section reports. The most serious aspect of our trade is the steady decline in the percentage of business transacted with United Kingdom. In 1909 the percentage of our purchases from United Kingdom was 624 per cent, of the total, in 1913 the percentage had dropped to 594 per cent. In 1920 the percentage had dropped to approximately 50 per cent. In 1925 the percentage had still further reduced to 49 per cent., and the figures referred to above for 1926 show that England’s proportion of our total imports amounted to 46J per cent. SEEKING THE REASON. “These figures reflect the necessity for very thorough investigation for the purpose of discovering reasons for this steady decline in our imports from the United Kingdom. This is a problem that must be kept in view by not only our members but the whole community, as well as our legislators, when the next tariff revision is under consideration. “Our Dominion continues to expand its business in volume of exports, and also increases its borrowing from the United Kingdom, but it is obvious that development so one-sided cannot he expanded indefinitely with economic safety.”