TRADE WITH BRITAIN.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 31, 6 February 1925, Page 9

TRADE WITH BRITAIN.

STAGNATION LAST YEAR. MOTOR VEHICLE IMPORTS. : i:\Pi". commii-.su iNF.frs view. I i;.- British Trade Commissioner .Mr. x - ! Itu-lie ivas askcii by :i "Ptiminirm" -.•porter if lie would di- uss the ," ;_-,;, in - piopoi I i,,n ~|' the trade, id" '. iv /.'a In ml as disclosed by 1 lie st ut is- :.. « t""i I*--1 -in tlie light of the wish he .;'!• ■-. -i. -ni hi- arrival in New Zealand ■'-,' ■' niigln b- increased by three 'li-ii- annually. ' - "I th,- HUM trail.• which .• •• ! issued indicate that no progress 1-s been mad.-.' said Mr. Klin-li,-. ,„ i- : ly. "11,,,-,' results have vet to be ' ' lin '- i """ g r ''»< care and knowledge. I , get any rial deduction-. The pomt i'a> stiikes ou.- inosi forcibly at the s'.in is that the percentage of trade sup- ; ■-! by I,rent Britain in 1 _l is smaller II an that of 111.... ll ha- fallen frr , m in-, under .V_ per .-cut i,, 17: ,-„.,- c.-nt. H:t. ,„i examination, xvc tin,] that it is -,-_ely due to the „,,:,:, |,e llv j,. r impor ii ■:• of gi,„U xvhich cannot be obtainco nun Croat Britain. Uxviug to , : K . ~r , M , inil-ircs and the drought, the in: porta- ''.!•''-. are ],{ millions higher in 102! tlun in IP--3. The next lar B es, item i- ,„„ rr) . '•-'tiu products nn,1,., xxhi.-h I have "louprd motor spirit, bonziuc*. pur? oil, and kerosene. They arc hinhcr l, v ='s-J4.lloi| i„ 10-Jl. Timber. "ii„, r ;„ c lough and dressed, was i.M 1-1.011(7 higher! 'I ea and sugar aecounl i',,r an iin-r,:.-, ~i'

•JII.OOO. Coal has increase,l by £-..'.10.0011 llie increase in i hese items.' ~,„,,. ~,' iilucli arc obtained from the Cite! c-inHom. count f,,r il„. „,..,j,„. p; , r t of Hie increase in trade in 102-1.

"If xcr eliminate these, and come doxvn 'o manufactured goods which Croat llrit-ain call supply, you will f,„,| |„„, the I „,led Kingdom has done nppro.xitnutcly the same proportion ~f , ra ,l- j„ ic"-4 as ir, IP-J.-1. n,at, I think, is borne out by the fact that the imports from all l-uropean countries, xvhich arc of enLirelv mariuiactured goods, arc approximatoiV cie same m the two years. ;- (1 [ think ir i? safe to assume that the United Kingdom, lias not lost, trade to other

•••uairies. On the other 'ml, i; is equally clear that she has made no progress toxvards obtaining a lar"cr share. "

The only section of trade that does nM rrmo. xvithin th. terms of what I say ; - 'be trade in motrr vehicles. Ir 1924, it amounted to 3+ millions, an increase of -1.12.5,000 oxer 192.3. Now, that is still mainly derived from the United .States and Canada, but I think there are indications that the efforts noxv being made by the manufacturer in the United Kingdom are shoxving their effect. I hnx-e not got full details for the last half-year before mc, but. assuming that * the imports in December are derived in the same manner as October and Nox-ember, I think I may say that, while 5 per cent of the number of motor xehicles in the first hßlf-year of 1924 came from the ("nited Kingdom, in the second half-year the percentage increased to about 8 per rent. From what I kDow of the efforts being made by the British manufacturer 10-day, I see no reason why the proportion should not materially "increase next ypar. "From the information I have in mr possession in regard to the main lines of manufactured goods, the percentage of imports from the United Kingdom has definitely increased. For example, comparing 1923 with the three-quarters of 1P24. the United Kingdom"s percentages of cotton textiles increased from 8S to W per cent; paints and varnish, 76 to ,«; iron pipes, fittings, 77.5 to 82; electrical machinery, fifi.rs f 0 71; and earthenware and china, 02 to 0,1 per cent."