THE EXPORT POSITION

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 49, 26 August 1938, Page 16

THE EXPORT POSITION

"VERY VULNERABLE"

N.Z. DISADVANTAGES

MR. GOODFELLOW ON POLICY

(By Telegraph—Press Association.) HAMILTON, August 25. "World conditions still remain unstable, but so long as the United Kingdom continues to spend £400,000,000 a year on armaments it is fairly safe to assume that the buying power of the British public will enable prices to be maintained at a satisfactory figure," commented Mr. W. Goodfellow, managing director of Amalgamated Dairies, Ltd., at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Cooperative Dairy Co. today. Especially is this likely to. be the case if the long-talked-of and much-boped-for Anglo-American trade agreement is finalised in the near future. Such ■ an achievement is likely to have farreaching results, both economically and politically, and who knows but that New Zealand may yet find a great profitable alternative market in the United States of America? "The export position of New Zea-. land is indeed very vulnerable," said Mr. Goodfellow, "and it requires safeguarding in every possible way. For instance, last year New Zealand sold to the United Kingdom goods to the value of £50,750,000, and imported £28,250,000 worth, and thus had a favourable trade balance of £22,500,000, but it took £10,000,000 of this sum to pay New Zealand's adverse trade balance with Australia, Canada, and the United States of America. "Our small local sales, combined with big exports, made it almost impossible for the dairy farmers of this Dominion to do what every other country is doing, loading the local consumer with a high internal price, pooling local and export sales, and thus raising the average return to the farmer. Because we could not do that, our producers had to meet the full force of world competition." This was the outstanding reason why it should be the policy of every Government in New Zealand to keep internal costs well down. Any other policy would sooner or later land the country in serious, difficulties. Mr. Goodfellow indicated that he was sufficiently conservative to believe in proved methods, and he doubted very much if either this or any other Government could for long insulate New Zealand against a serious fall in world prices. The compensating price campaign was supported by shareholders, and it was. decided to contribute 6d a ton of butter and 3d a ton of cheese manufactured by the company, such assistI ance to continue for one year.