NEW ZEALAND TARIFF

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 133, 28 February 1908, Page 9

NEW ZEALAND TARIFF

INCREASING AREA OF PREFERENCE, ■ THE "EMPIRE FREE LIST."

_ .-A .memorandum has been ' prepared aiid issued-by Sir.'Chamberlain's .TariH. Commission dealing with tlio new tariff of New Zealand.. . Its publication comes usefully on the heels, of, tlio report of the' Special Commissioner appointed by, tlio. Advisory Com- • mittco.of the Board of .-Trade,on Commercial ; .Intelligence..,., Tlio Board of Trado. report ; deals only incidentally wjtli the ciTcct-s.of the : 'new; tariff. which received the assent of- the Governor of the Dominion last September, but ;whicli, with, regard to', many of its schedules, . into, force beforp April 1. . next;' .. following is the "Standard's" summary/of tlio memorandum. ; : (It must not bo forgotten tliat the "Stand- : ard"-, is'a Tariff-Reform journal)' : 'The.course of New Zealand's foreign trade sinc'o, 1890, is'first dealt with, and it is shown tliat , 'the''Unitcd , Kirigdom occupies, .and has always occupied, a dominant position in that In 1906 tho United Kingdom supplied £9,000,000 worth of goods out of a tbtal' ,of /Nevertheless, !tho: ,;sJiaro of Nojy.-, Zealand's; trado taken by Mother-Country: lias been steadily, declining, .-Tvhiie thit -.of foreign ! . countries' continues to ;iiicrcaßO. . -Thus, comparing''' the , five years eiidedj 1894 witli tlio fivo years , ended 1906, ;tho .United, Kingdom's sharo fell .from' 65 to GO.por cent.,:but the foreign:sharo roso from ,9 to'lG/peiy cent;.;. -11l 1906 the imports. from foreign;',countries amounted - to ■,£2,321,000. though,in 1890 tlio foreign iriiports amounted, :tp/.... £549,000 • only. individual foreign-' countries, it. is, shown . that, .comparing theperiod ;1890-4 with: 1902-6 tho average; .annual, imports, rose as follows: —Germany,, from £69,000 to £282,000 Japan, £11,000 to £81,000 Belgium, £9000 .to £107,000; aiid the .United States, £374,000 ..to £1)427,000, ' VALUE OF ; THE OLD PREFERENCE. ; .1 '.'The-did. tariff,- which' has /iiow.been superspded, was not a .high one.-:- According to the Board of Trado calculations, it represented an average,tariff,of 9 per cent'. 1 against .British goods, an, averago ;wnich is considerably lower than V that' .of ,'ove'ry. Continental country,', except . Switzerland and Holland, arid .lower also,.than _that.. of. tho .United States. Tho' old ..'tariff also.. . gave, a, sub-, ' S'tantial, ( preference oil many lines .of British goods, ;arid.:thljt'.this 'preference has ibeen of value to this 'country ; is shown'by.lthb follow-; from , tho. Board of Trado report-:-- : im fW? M ~*> wliplo' suggest -that' the, effect 'of '.the preferential arrangements has 't<> -the,'Unitetl Kingdom^and t-lio. British ', Possessions ' a', jjortion •of the ,tra:do' formerly.® held -by foreign countries. in : affected - bjr the'preference, and' ithat in • particular.iii the. last year, tho United ;forigdom, aiid 'British Possessions/ werojori--abled. to 'secure' tliei/whole! of tlio. iucrcaso in' .tho : imjktft's of: these commodities',' iwhich'cbnstituted iri' that year' about-22 per -cent, of the ; total (imports iiitd New- Zealand. This conclusion is' liornb 1 out -by evidtyico'collected both in : th6'_D6ininion v ,and ,iii tlio United Kingdom'.itself' froriv various'firms engaged in tho New;.Zealand;trade/ ! Thus it was frequently ! stated - that'' before • - tho /'Act •of 1903' ,oaino iritb bporation Belgian iron "bars coiild : ho , placed iu tlip New Zealand market cheaper than Scotch or North-Couiitry bars,' but that the 20 per, cent.- ad valorem duty on foreign ;barshas completely ; reversed; matters, arid jthat British-iron can now-be purchased arid landed 'in .'Now Zealand' at less cost than tlio Continental, article'. '-Tlitr 'samo state l • inent, is made'as to most kinds of. manufactured metal goods to which' /preferential ■ treatment .is accorded.^.', ;: British /made boots and .shoes are also said- to benefit' consider-: ' ablyi--.-, Tlje,imports of, these,from the United Ki'igdom'jWere.ill-1903 only £118,209, but by ,1906,; they,;,amouuted.'to,'£2o4,o32i':whilst:thb v i.iriijjorts.from,.tho United States .on- tho- other f.hand,.,which amounted-,'to >£107,7.13 in •1903,had ,fallQn t0.£46,846 in lOOG.:' - .The. iinports' ;.of,tho-same,goods.'from; Australia, ; which also had tlio advantage of-preferential-treatment,: imcrnasefl <m-,.tho;.samo period:'frbm-:£10, 030 t0.£20,180.. . .'-v").,

"'THE "NEW' TARIFF

;, In ithis.,section,..tho Tariff. Commission has imado.an-.analysis of tlio incidc-itco'oi uie'-ojcl; ,'ind. Ncr.v Zealand. Tariffs upon '.British /P rei goods' iii each, of tho groups Of-imports-in lvliich , tiio ..United Kingdom is intorested.-,■ , ; Tlio,< conclusion, drawn -i o ™- r,- J® v ; e ,fy shiboi'ato ~ analysis, is■ that, b hereas ,British, goods, as a whole were for- .;- in .these.,groups,:' toaverage TO^o^'lS-y/.Ppr-'cent'.,-.they.'.,will in future P?y/.9?v-?.^'P- '.cent. On'->tlio .other 'hand; • , goods: in the, same groups have had their duties raised from 15.9 t0'16.2 per cent In general it niay .be said that if in IDOS tho iprojjortions, of foreign, and .British. goods', are ■' ;unaltered, and; thb samo 'as' iii :1906,. tlio: bo found'.tp:havo.been.reducbtii T.y.'°. P cent,, while if," as: is reasonably anticipated, -tho; British: -proportion should be increased, tho:reduction in duties will bo even larger. - ; ' /: ; • ' ; • -:-i;v

~. Iho new .tariff oxtends })roferenco to a larger proportion of British trado than t-ho old, itanfr;. A table which has Jieon prepared! shows that whereas under tho old tariff 2} milhons worth of .imports' into' New Zealand m d9o6' rMeivcd'Mproferential. treatment,' the vauio of tho goods receiving preference if tho in;forco would havo'beeri ±4,000,000, . or:-nearly. '50 per -cent: greater, tt; is, significant : that -ip; thc-so totals.:thero' is shown -to be';.a ■ considerable extension' of tho' principlo:of ail Empiro:Free List, i.o;; free admission; from: within,the Empire, though sub- . to' duties: if vconiing ; from.-a' foreign coun- 1 try. Tins principle-—first adopted, wcrbelieve,' by iyow .Zealand, has. now beconio n settled .feature, in .the. Canadian and Australian tariffs; ■'■'■V''; .: j /.' ; y, 'v.-,,!.. I-:. 'POSSIIJiLITIES OF FURTHER ■ f- ; ■ : ,

; i A',further. shoivn' that in 'tho 'groups which - provide, nearly'.. .£4,000,000 worth of traclo.npoh. which profci'Gnco is extended, ;mord'; than $ .'.millions 1 : worth upon .which wo 'liavb .no preforenco. More ' than £750,000 worth •: of ' this, trade . ,is ■'. | at.., ; present'- . 'donii • with foreign . countries, and - doubtless ' an: oxtensiOn .'"of the ,• pfefercheb ; i would as ;BWt;;Bnti'sh manufaeturefs 'to paptiiire tho, lar--1 ger sharo of;this.' Our refusal ito■ adopt a systemj of, 1 reciprobal 1 p'reforeiico alono' stands inthe.ivay of this, further' enlargement' of tho, preference." Tliis''is shown :bv ; tlid following extract from Sir 'Joseph Ward's spoceh at the lihperial;Coiifere'nce:' .•'.■'! ' . '"■■■■ ; "Froni • our' point of 'view, what wo' have already dono shows an earnest desire for prc.ferdncbjto be given' to tlie old loiiidj' Whether , ivd'arb': right ih -that or,, otherwise must be to, judgo'' Wo be-' hoyc tha't:it (preforenco) is a jgood'thirigj and are quite prepared'- to' e'stoiid it. • ,So far- is New - Zealand is' coricehied;' wo are only. too ready ,tq;.ent-er:. into, a reciprocal treaty ..with' :oiir friends of Australia, .to which Mr. Deakiii . has. referred; We havo also an adjustniont of tho,'Cust-oriis ;Tariff to put on' tho- Statuto Book nost session, and-wo are .most anxious to bring "about'improved tfndo relationships , between tho and most anxious td as- ' sist;m 'the' 'development "of 1 , trade between tho Old .World and the newer ono. Apart from' : feelings'of "sentiment,;-which' aro so valuable, wo have an additional desiro to build-'up our ' country byVrcciprocal ; treatment,, which ivill' eti'ongly devolop trado bbtw'oen ourselves.'' - ; Tho' Tariff Commission memorandum' concludes its analysis'With''a' valuable series of tables .showing tho course .of trade in ovory item, tho '-importation of • which in 1906 exceoded £25,000 in valuo. This is tho com-

plete-st statement"which'has yet.been issued on tho: course of -Now; Zealand' trado, and much niorb coinpleto than,is availablo in any official-return..