STEPS TO BRITISH

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 41, 12 November 1936, Page 16

STEPS TO BRITISH

TRADE RECOVERY

Aid For Shipping

REVISION OF COMMERCIAL TREATIES

Steps for preserving the prosperity of British commerce and industry were indicated by Sir Geoffrey Clarke, the president, in his speech at the opening of the autumn conference of the Association of British Chambers of Commerce, recently. Sir Geoffrey said that, despite restrictions and trade barriers on every hand, Great Britain at the moment was doing fairly well. According to Hie most recent returns of the Board, of Trade it was steadily progressing in almost every branch of industry, and one could not help attributing this progress to the development of the home market and to the fact that it was carefully protected by tariff walls. The general recovery, however, was not perceptible in any marked degree in our foreign trade. From 1928 to 1935, the value of exports had declined from £844,060,000 to £426,000,000, and the imports from £1,196,000,000 to £757,000,000. Those drops, both in exports and imports, had necessarily reacted very severely on the position of British mercantile shipping, and it was generally admitted to-day among shipowners that it was very difficult to make a large shipping concern pay after taking into consideration depreciation of its fleet.

The first step toward preserving some modicum of prosperity would seem to be a careful revision of the commercial treaties that we bad entered into, and in making such revisions the Government should consult the industries concerned before drawing up fresh treaties or continuing the old ones. A great deal of complaint existed at present not only against the treaties themselves, but also against the way in which they had been interpreted, contrary to the interests of the British producer. The second step that ought to be taken was the adoption of a definite policy for the support of British shipping so as to prevent its being run off the seas by subsidised ships of other countries. The proportion of British to world tonnage had fallen from 43.4 per cent, in 1913 to 31 percent. in 1936. Purely United Kingdom tonnage had been reduced in five years by no fewer than 3,000,009 tons, and we were steadily losing our carrying trade for other countries owing to the assistance given by them to their own shipping. It was clear that the situation must be tackled, and that in our future agreements with other countries stipulations must be made for employment of a certain proportion of British shipping for the conveyance of our own imports. Further, some definite and substantial assistance must be given to British shipping to enable it to compete with foreign subsidised shipping. Sir Geoffrey Clarke continued that, addressing a meeting at Cardiff, he could, not refrain from referring to what used to be our greatest industry, the coal trade, which had been declining steadily since the war. Since 1913 the total exports had declined from 94.000.000 to 53,000.000 tons, and it was difficult to see how the foreign markets which had been lost could possibly be recovered. Efforts bad been made in almost every trade treaty entered into in recent years to provide for a certain proportion of British coal being used, but all the efforts did not seem to be able to counterbalance the general decline, and they must now look to some further use of coal, such as for the production of oil, to enable this industry to regain its former pride of place.