VALUE TO BRITAIN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26634, 3 December 1947, Page 5

VALUE TO BRITAIN

GENEVA AGREEMENTS RESULTS UNPREDICTABLE INCREASED AMERICAN TRADE N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent Rec. 9 p.m. LONDON, Dec. 2. Although the Geneva Trade Agreement has been officially hailed in both Britain and the United Stales as the means of increasing trade between the two countries, British exporters are reluctant to express any decided opinions until the agreements have been tested in practice. The range of goods involved is so wide and the tariff changes so complex that it is impossible to predict with any certainty what the result of the changes in duty will be on the saleability of many commodities.

At present the chief items of British export to the United States are whisky and other spirits, textile manufactures other than cottons, woollen yarns and manufactures, chemicals', machinery, vehicles and apparel. Of the Geneva Agreement upon British trade the Financial Times says it seems unlikely that the changes in tariff on spirits will have any appreciable effect upon the present level of British exports to the United States. The effect in the case of whisky will probably be that a full crate will cost about four dollars less by the time it reaches the ships. To the purchaser of a single bottle the decrease in price is unlikely to be more than Is 6d. This is unlikely to have any great effect on sales. Moreover, stocks of whisky in Britain arc insufficient to meet any sharp increase in demand. Demand for Textiles On the other hand there seem prospects that changes of tariffs on British textiles, particularly damasks and linens, will have a considerable effect in increasing British markets. The decrease in the retail price of a 72inch square of British damask, now selling in America at £3 15s, is likely to be as much as 15s. It is considered that machinery exports from this country are unlikely to be greatly affected. The majority of machinery exported to the United States from Britain is of a highlyspecialised type and slight decreases in the price are therefore not important. Buyer Resistance to Wool

The prices of British high-quality woollen cloth are likely to be reduced by as much as 50 cents a yard in the United States as the result of the decrease in the ad valorem duty on cloth and other wool products. It is considered that this may have a useful effect in breaking down consumer resistance to the present high prices of high-grade cloths, but that it is unlikely to be sufficient to force an entry into United States markets for lower-priced British woollen products. One export line which is expected to benefit considerably is carpets In the first 10 months of this year British carpet exports to the United States earned nearly £200,000 sterling in dollars. Now that the American import duty on carpets has been decreased by one-quarter, the value of this trade i: expected to increase materially. Here again, however, the British product will be able to compete only in the higher-price ranges. The tariff reduction is not considered sufficient to enable British carpets to compete with lower-priced American products. Luxury Lines

The general conclusion reached by the majority of British exporters, says the Financial Times, is that although the reductions agreed upon at Geneva will help British manufacturers dealing with luxury lines, and in some cases will help to counteract more •difficult selling conditions, they will not be decisive in opening up an entirely new sector of American markets to British goods