"PAINFULLY SURPRISED"

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 92, 9 December 1931, Page 5

"PAINFULLY SURPRISED"

(British Official Wireless)

FRANCE AND TARIFFS OUTSPOKEN STATEMENT BY BRITISH MINISTER RESENTED FRENCH SURTAX DEFENDED

RUGBY, Monday. As anticipated, the postponement of the visit of the French trade delegation to London was -announced yesterday in Paris. .. The announcement stated that the British Government, while accepting the principle of friendly conversations on the tariff question, declared that immediate conversations would be prematui'e, as no modifications could in the present conditions be made in the new British tariffs. The French Minister of Commerce in a sta'tement, says that the French publie has been painfully surprised by the outspoken criticism by Mr. W. Runciman, President of the Board of Trade, of the surtax imposed by France on British goods. He denies that the sUrtaxes discriminate against Great Britain, as they apply to other countries as well, and the decree sanctioning them was promPlglated before the fall in value of sterling. As pointed out by Mr. Runciman on Friday, the decree was actually put into force on November 14, just before the first announcement of the new British duties. It applies in vary- : ing degrees to a series of countries with depreciated currencies, including

Great Britain, Australia, India, Mexico, Denmark, Sweden, Argentine, Uruguay, and Norway. The maximum of 15 per cent. surtax is imposed on imports from Great Britain, Australia, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The "Daily Telegraph" notes that the French coal surtax applies to Britain alone, because she is the only country in the category which exports coal to France.