RECIPROCITY OF TRADE

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27988, 7 June 1956, Page 14

RECIPROCITY OF TRADE

FARMERS’ VIEWS ON N.Z. TARIFF FEAR OF REPERCUSSIONS ON EXPORTS (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, June 6. “Judged on the value of trade a head of population, New Zealand trade ranks among the highest in the world, and because of our extreme vulnerability, no steps should be taken which will damage the development of our markets .overseas,” said Mr J. C. Adams, industrial economist of Federated Farmers, in submissions today to the Board of Trade. ' The claim was often made by New Zealand manufacturers that the exclusion of British finished goods by import control or high tariffs did not in itself prejudice Britain, but merely replaced imports of manufactured articles with factory raw materials, he said. “The fact is, of.course, that Britain is as much a producer of finished consumer goods as she is an exporter of raw materials,” Mr Adams said. “The placing of artificial barriers in the ways of trade in ( these consumer goods is likely to cause resentment in the minds of those workers whom we are urging to eat our butter in preference to margarine.” Aid to Industries Mr Adams said it was a paramount principle that “assistance to a local industry can be decided only with reference to the country as a whole, that is, with regard to its external as well as its internal position.” Increasing industrialisation of the Commonwealth countries and consequent exclusion of British goods were being used by British farm leaders as a justification for building un British agriculture by placing restrictions on imports of foodstuffs, Mr Adams said. “It sems unavoidable that, if we cut off the market for imports, we must inevitably invite retaliation, and in the long run eliminate the market for some of our exports.” said Mr Adams. “In general, the tariff should not be used as a weapon for the direction of trade and employment, as it is a costly and cumbersome expedient.” If the State was determined that some enterprise was essential to the country’s well-being, although on purely economic considerations, it was unprofitable, then it should be supported by means of Government grants, he said. Such payments should ne shown in the Public Accounts, and thus permit debates in Parliament on the merits of the project concerned.