Duty on Motor Vehicles

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 251, 20 July 1934, Page 13

Duty on Motor Vehicles

Sir, —Since the proposed increase in duties was announced, correspondence and accounts of interviews, mostly from members of the motor trade engaged in the sale of British motor-vehicles, have appeared in the daily press. All such interviews and correspondence indicate a disappointment that an increase of 5 per cent. —in the case of commercial motor-vehicles—has been made on the British product. From the viewpoint of one interested in the sale of American motor-vehicles, the writer thinks that .the feeling of the persons concerned should rather be one of gratitude that they have not been penalised to the same extent as their less fortunate competito It has been put forward by one correspondent as an argument why the -j per cent, increase should'not be made, that in the case of commercial vehicles, buses and trucks, the English article is preferred by the majority of licensed operators. This statement is open to question. Certainly it may be correct as regards buses, as these vehicles in the majority of cases are under the control of the Government and municipalities, who quite naturally have a certain bias in favour of British goods, and, having public money to spend, Can afford to pander to sentiment although machines of American or other origin might be equally ns good, if not better. We have heard quite a lot about the restrictive increase in the duty on British commercial chasses, but _ how very much worse is the proposed increase on chasscs of American manufacture. The British chassis on a 15 per cent, duty (uo surtax payable) amounts t 016.5 per cent, only on invoice value. It is proposed, however, to penalise and place tne very severe handicap on the American chassis of 60 per cent, on invoice value, plus 10 per eent.. plus 9-40ths surtax, which makes the total duty payable So.Bo per cent, of invoice cost. What a handicap I A net preferential duty in favour of English commercial chasscs of over 64 per cent. ... I« such a handicap likely to be conducive to reciprocal trade relations between America and New Zealand. Ibe former country has been, and still is, a large potential buyer of New Zealand products both direct and per medium of the United Kingdom, a large portion of whose purchases include, according to tae New Zealand Official Year Book: ‘Considerable quantities of products which are shipped to London merely as a convenient depot for subsequent reshipment to the Continent or to America." . . Most of us desire that Great Britain should receive some preference in the matter of Customs duties, but surely 64 per cent, is unwarranted nnd likely to defeat the Government’s desire for revenue. —I am, etc 1 ., FAIR PLAY.; Wellington, July IS.