TRADE WITH GERMANY

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 56, 4 September 1923, Page 8

TRADE WITH GERMANY

DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY

BEGINNING OF BUSINESS.

A Wellington merchant with long established pre-war connections with leading German exporting houses" was seen to-day by " The Post " with reference to resumption of imports from. Germany. The embargo was removed as from Ist September last, although, under permit from the Minister of Customs, certain articles have for some time past been imported from Germany, but this trade was in very small volume. On Saturday, however, it was competent to import iroin that country without restrictions of the kind imposed since the war. In the opinion of the merchant interviewed, it was felt that it was likely to be a very long time before anything like the of German business on its pre-war scale was probable. The greatest obstacle was that of finance, ihera was a demand in New Zealand for certain goods of a kind or character that could not be procured in Great Bntam. For such goods some few orders had been taken; but they were very small in amount. Furthermore, in most respects the values were considerably higher than; would be the'case were the goods of British manufacture. It ft ifu Se, em to be fully realised here that the difficulties of resumption of trade with Germany were immense. Uerman manufacturers would not ex?°n cn eSS they first ha<J a draft f°r fully 50 per cent, of the value of ' the order with it. They would not quote prices, except the prices ruling at time of shipment. It was highly improbable that much business could be done m such circumstances. The mark was quoted at 50 \ millions, or 55 millions to_ the £. Well, the mark was still the mark in Germany ; but the manufacturer could not say what relation it would bear to sterling when the time came to ship the goods, nor could he Bay what his raw material* would cost him, what wages he would have to pay. In such conditions business could not but be ot a highly speculative character for the New Zealand importer could not be expected to place orders without knowing something approximately as to what the goods were going to cost him. Nor was he likely to take the risk of sending ?v I to Gernlany without an assurance that he was goinj to receive the goods. No doubt some huge fortunes had been made by some people in Germany through the collapse of the mark in its relation to tho English pound sterling or the American dollar; but the suffering of the middle class, the poor people whose sole and fixed income was derived from investments was really pitiable. In dealing with his clients the merchant said he had taken pains to point out to them the difficulties. of trading with Germany as he saw them; and he felt sure that it must be a very long time (unless, some great and quite imtorseen change in the financial situation took place) before any considerable importation of goods by New Zealand from Germany was practicable. Bearing in some sort on the above remarks, the "Mercantile Guardian" states that the provisions of the AntiDumping Act have been applied by Australia to enamolware recently ~ imported from Czecho-Slovakia, and they have been made retrospective to 9th August, 1922. This was done, it was said, to meet the case of.importers of such goods who have been assisting in dumping them into Commonwealth markets to the detriment pi;-- British manufacturers of'enamelware. .." ■■':. i -