THAT 50 PER CENT. ON ENEMY CARS.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2553, 30 August 1915, Page 3

THAT 50 PER CENT. ON ENEMY CARS.

The Budget imposes a duty of 50 per cent, on motor-cars from enemy countries. Many have wondered jit,the, provision in view of the fact that all trade with enemy countries is prohibited by . law.- - A motor .company, manager gives an ingenious explanation which might account for the. provision. Ho indicated that Germany, .being unablo to' export her cars in the usual way, might'dump them /into some neutral country, and from there they might be shipped to '.Net? .Zealand. . Tho expert, however, 'could pretty easily de-'| tect .a German 'car, particularly if its .port of origin were apparently Holland,Denmark, Norway, or Sweden, in which case the 50 per'cent., would be an effective bar to. the cars coming here. V Be-ing-a cute lot, the Germans/would perhaps ' take advantage of tho possible capitulation of Turkey, ancTdump goods into that country that could b,e exported.on it becoming neutral territory.Tho 10 per cent, ad valorem duty on cars and parts is acceptable, and, simplified the Customs work considerably. - Regarding tho 50 per cent.'tax on enemy- motor-cars, the Wellington Collector of Customs informed a DoitiN'ioN representative yesterday that no such .provision was made in the list of the revised tariff which he had before him.