TARIFF POLICY

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21904, 3 October 1936, Page 10

TARIFF POLICY

SPECULATION AMONG . MANUFACTURERS

POSSIBLE NEED FOR ADJUSTMENTS A statement of the Prime Minister that the Government’s tariff policy will give reasonable attention to the position of local manufacturers is naturally causing some speculation about prospective adjustments. The vital importance of this subject is emphasised in the editorial article of the current issue of the New Zealand “Accountants’ Journal.” "In view of the fact that the tariff policy of this Dominion may need to be closely overhauled in the near future,” the writer says, “it is desirable that the business community should take a long-range view of the situation, and if necessary put forward constructive suggestions which will help the Government in its task. Only those closely' in touch with business conditions can fully appreciate what may happen if the customs tariff is not readjusted on sqund lines. "For many years the per capita trade of New Zealand with Great Britain has been much higher than is the case with Australia, and this has been a good argument for us to use %hen it came to bargaining with the Old Country in respect to the admission of our primary products. In this connexion Australia has been gradually overhauling us. and it seems more than probable that within the next few years Australia i» destined to become our largest competitor, not 'only for meat, but for dairy It is only natural, therefore, that the Commonwealth should endeavour to poster a greater amount of reciprocal trade with Great an< ! * s very eVident that in respect to the rearrangement of her customs tariff every effort Has been made to placate British industrialists who have objected to the small volume of goods which Australia takes compared with the purchases of primary products from Australia by the Homeland. ! Australia’s Problem "When the tariff schedule and list of import prohibitions were announced in the Federal House of Parliament, drastic alterations in the customs schedule were made; not only in rates of duties and in the manner of their application, but in the powers of discrimination which it confers upon the Customs Department. The additions to the margins of British preference, and the • prohibition" of. imports—except under license—of an important range of goods from countries outside the Empire cannot be interpreted but as an indication of a growing determination to foster trade within the Empire, and at the same time to lessen Australia’s dependence on countries overseas for certain necessary and important classes of goods. Australia also, perhaps ih much greater degree than New Zealand, has the added problem of further encouraging and assisting local manufacturing,, and the Commonwealth, in common with this Dominion, has had to realise that countries Which used to be important buyers of wool, meat, butter, fruit, and other products, have, by means of embargoes, quotas, exchange restrictions, and .other - hindrances to trade, either severely limited or else completely closed their markets. _ An outstanding example in Australia is provided by the area under wheat, which has fallen from an average of 15,700,000 acres for .the five years ended 1933-34 to less than 13,000,000 acres for the last two years, “As a result of the factors to which we refer, the development of primary industries, both in Australia arid New Zealand, has been checked, and the ability of these industries to provide employment for a growing population considerably lessened. It is quite evident that a larger population of the youth of the nation arriving at working ages, must be found employment in secondary industries where they can not only earn their own living, but help to provide . markets for the ppmary producing section of the community.”