Argentina and the Ottawa Conference.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20551, 20 May 1932, Page 10

Argentina and the Ottawa Conference.

The suggestion, referred to in yesterday's cable .news, that Argentina may send an observer to the Imperial Economic) Conference in July, is obviously absurd, but it is not hard to understand why it should have been made. The decline in Argentina's export trade and the fall in meat prices have made her justifiably anxious over the fiscal policy of Great Britain, her best customer. It is true that meat has been exempted from the new British tariff, but Mr Chamberlain's assurance that this does not necessarily preclude negotiations with countries in the Empire for a duty on meat has alarmed Argentine exporters. At their request a Trade Commission has been appointed which will leave for London as soon as it has gathered sufficient data to support the Republic's case for preferential treatment. That case is a strong one and shows how dangerous is the suggestion that it is desirable or even possible to create an exclusive Imperial Customs Union. The amount of British capital sunk in the Argentine cattle industry is enough to make Britain think twice about giving preferences which would operate against Argentine meat, but in addition to this, despite a severe contraction of' her import trade since 1925, Argentina is buying over £25,000,000 worth of British manufactured goods every year. In the near future it should be possible to increase this figure substantially for Argentina's finances are sound, her purchasing power shows signs of reviving, and a high dollar exchange is curtailing imports from the United States. "British manu- " factnrers," says a. recent number of the Times Trade and Engineering Supplement, "are facing an almost " unparalleled opportunity for securing "a much larger share of Argentine " trade than they have had since 1910, "and therefore it is of primary im"portance to settle this question of "reciprocal treatment for imports " without a moment's delay."