TRADE TREATY

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 214, 4 May 1932, Page 5

TRADE TREATY

C'Post" Special Commissioncr).

CANADA AND N.Z. TERMS - OF AGREEMENT WIN APPROVAL THROUGHOUT DOMINION RAT(IFICATI0N BILL IN HOUSE

WELLINGTON, Tuesday. There is little of a controversial nature in the. Trade Agreement (Cana;da and New Zealand) Ratification - Bill _which is being ratified by the Hotise of Representatives. . In moving the second reading the .Minister of Customs, the. ,Hon. W. Dpwnie Stewart, who conducted the negotiations with the Canadian Minister of Industry and Commerce (Mr H. H. Stevens) said that since the Bijl was introdueed he had received a large number of letters in connection with the Treaty, but only one ob jection had been raised and that one was without f oundation. Manufacturers and others from Auckland to Dunedin deelared that the;.. treaty was entirely satisfaetory to them and commented that it would enable them to develop trade in a way that had not been possible before. The only objection came from motor body builders in Christchurch, who deelared that Canadian motor cacs had been granted British preference, that the Government had been hoodwinked in making the agreement and that their industry would suffer seriously.' So far from that being the case, Mr. Stewart said, the British car manufacturers said that they were entirely satisfied; indeed, that nothing could be more satisfaetory to them. British Firms Satisified The Minister said that when he was in Honolulu .he received a cable from the British Motor Manufacturers' Association asking that, if possibla, Canadian cars should be required to contain 75 per cent. of Canadian labour and materials. Not only was that* aetually secured, but it was also provided that if Canadian cars did not contain 75 per cent. of Canadian labour and materials they must carry an extra 10 .per cent. of duty. As the New Zealand car builders relied almost entirely on British imports of cars for their opportunity, it followed that if the British manufacturers were satisfied, then the New Zealand bodybuilders were under a misapprehension in thinking they were going to suffer. - New Zealand butter exporters had said they would be satisfied to obtain the same benefits in respect to butter entering Canada as Australia enjoyed and they had succeeded in that. As a point of interest, Mr. Stewart pointed out that Canada was now one of the first five trading nations of the world. The only countries that took precedence were the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Germany. Moreover, Canada's interests m trade were rapidly growing. Notwithstanding that Australia had a much larger population than New Zealand, it was a fact that the total trade between New Zealand and Canada had for many years been greater than that between Australia and Canada. Canada had a big lead over New Zealand in the balance of trade, but after all, that was natural when one considered the development of the sister Dominion and the more advanced state of her manufaeturing industries. "Of Utmost Importance" Proceeding, the Minister pointed out that external trade was very largely the life-blood of New Zealand, hence possibilities of opening up trade with other parts of the world were of the utmost importance to us. The importance of the matter arose all the more clearly from what had taken place since the depression struck us, because, while efforts had been nlade by central banks and others to devise emergency measures to deal with the currency, no systematic endeavour had been made to deal with the collapse of international trade. On the other hand, the depression had revived nationalism in its most acute form. Thei*e had been a pei'fect storm of tariff legislation all over the world since the depression became acute. While we in New Zealand believed it was the proper policy to protect industries which/ were suitable for New Zealand, the tendency all over the world during the last two? years, and particularly during 1931, had been to check the flow of trade to a degree that the world had never before seen. It was stated by competent authorities that the collapse in the last two years had no parallel in the annals of modern business. In his opinion that had accentuated the depression and the more international trade was affected, the more the standard of living was affected. Any steps that could be taken without prejudicing local industries to give a great impetus to trade were of vital importance. .