DOMINION IMPORTS.

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20267, 9 August 1937, Page 8

DOMINION IMPORTS.

The manufacturers are pushing their claims for higher tariffs with increasing vigour, evidently looking to the coming session to secure more protection, though not, for the moment, making any particular reference to increased prices to consumers, and an upward thrust to the cost of living. Last week, in these columns, it was suggested that the statements put forward by the protectionists should be critically examined, especially any figures relating to imports. An interesting illustration is afforded by a statement attributed to some anonymous business man and published in a city journal. It read: “Total merchandise imports are stated to have amounted to £21,766,818 fpr the first five months of 1937, compared with £16,426,787 in the corresponding period last year.” The figures are perfectly correct, but the idea that this is all merchandise is altogether wrong. Evidently the intention was to create the impression that these imports in some way entered into competition with local manufactures, and that the added volume this year represented the increased competition with which Dominion firms ha 4 to deal.

An examination of the imports, as classified in the official publications, shows that they included electrical machinery and equipment to the value of £1,030,000, manures worth £450,000, and motor vehicles totalling £2,318,000. These items alone account for about £1,000,000 of the reported increase and the goods do not enter into competition with local industry at all. The same could be said of sugar, of which £255,000 worth was imported in the period mentioned, and tea valued at £358,822. Cotton-piece goods are not made in New Zealand so that the imports valued at £840,000 would have to be deducted, and the same would have to be done with carpets and linoleum worth £367,000, while motor «pirit valued at £586,236 and the mineral and crude oils worth nearly £300,000 do not compete with local manufactures. It will be seen that to group all imports under the heading of “merchandise,” and then contend that the increase in the volume of imports represents the increased competition which local manufacturing firms must meet, is quite unjustified. The imports include foodstuffs and things from the tropics which never have been, and never could be, produced here, and the same remarks apply to many of the manufactured items. Possibly some day New Zealand will be able to compete with Sheffield and Birmingham in hardware and cutlery, but in the meantime the importation of £345,000 worth of these things is no meance to local industry. These figures show how essential it is that the very general statements made by the protectionists should be analysed. They are kept general for a purpose.