WOOL BOYCOTT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 86, 13 April 1939, Page 7

WOOL BOYCOTT.

ULTIMATUM ISSUED?

BY FRENCH BUYERS.

IMPORT CONTROL SEQUEL.

(By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) CHRISTCHTTRCH, Wednesday.

An ultimatum that unless some adjustment is made in the import control regulations to allow France a larger share of New Zealand business, French woolbuyers will boycott the New Zealand sales for the rest of this season after the Cbristchurcn sale and permanently thereafter is reported to have been delivered by French woolbuyers at present in the Dominion to the Minister of Finance, the Hon. W. Nash. The ultimatum. it is reported, will expire on April 17. two days before the final Dunedin sale. One more sale will be held at Wellington after that. The buyers are said to be working under instructions from the French Government, which resents what amounts to a total prohibition of French imports into tills country. (>ieat interest has been displayed' in the development in Christchurcli," where the fourth and final wool sale of the season is to be held on Friday. The catalogue, the largest for this season, comprises 29,000 bales, and a large proportion of it is of types in which French buyers are generally particularly interested. and for which there is virtually only French competition. Eyfect At Napier. It appears that no action is likely to be taken that will have anv effect on the Christchurcli sale, but it will be recalled that the sudden cessation of French bidding, particularly on piece wools, at Napier had a marked effect on the course of prices at that sale. French buyers would make no statement this evening, and would neither confirm nor deny the truth of the rumours. They said, however, that something might be made public on or after April 17. It was stated that French objections to the import control system were first conveyed to the Minister of Finance about three weeks ago, when Mr. Nash promised to give the matter consideration. Nothing further has been heard from the Government since then. France is an important buyer of New Zealand exports, and after Great Britain, the most important buyer of wool. Although imports from France are comparatively unimportant, the main export from New Zealand to France is wool, whence £1,041,941 worth of a total of £12,325,000 went in the 1937-38 season.

HAS HAD DISCUSSIONS.

MINISTER'S ADMISSION. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, this day. Commenting on the report that French woolbuyers had threatened to boycott New Zealand wool sales because of the import regulations, the Minister of Finance, the Hon. W. Nash, admitted he had already had discussions with representaives of the French buyers on the question, and added that he expected shortly to reopen discussions with them.