TOWARDS FREER TRADE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 207, 2 September 1938, Page 6

TOWARDS FREER TRADE.

Sir Earle Page, to whom Auckland to-day gave a welcome tempered by regret that his visit is brief and incidental, has been at " the heart of things " in London for several months, months in which anxiety concerning the international situation has seldom been relieved. It- is therefore significant and heartening that in his statement which we publish to-day there is 110 gloomy foreboding, but robust and reasoned optimism. He expects that the trade negotiations between the United Kingdom and the United States will be successfully completed before the end of this year, and that this agreement will be followed by a liberalising of trade with other countries. Such a development 011 the economic side would undoubtedly do much to lessen the danger of international disputes which seem more and more to be impossible of solution by political means. Apart from this aspect, a thorough-going trade agreement between Britain and the United States would have far more than economic importance, and for that reason it would be especially welcomed by Australia and New Zealand, even though both countries are wondering how such an agreement would affect their own interests. It is notable that Sir Earle Page, who lias had exceptional opportunities of studying this aspect of the question, expresses no apprehension, but looks forward to an extended market and increased opportunities for Australian products in the United Kingdom market. In this respect his mission seems to have been more successful than Mr. Nash's, possibly because the kind of reciprocity Australia was able to offer was more attractive to the British Government.