DIFFICULTIES IN SUPPLYING THE AMERICAN MARKET

Greymouth Evening Star, 5 October 1949, Page 5

DIFFICULTIES IN SUPPLYING THE AMERICAN MARKET

LONDON, October 3 (Rec. 9 a.m.). —The financial editor of the Manchester Guardian states that large American and Canadian orders for British goods are piling up. Some of this business has undoubtedly been accumulating in expectation of devaluation, but some exporters state that they are selling lines of goods for which no market was previously known to exist in the United States. Within the past fortnight, a large chain of America# dealers in motorcycles has undertaken to handle several British makes, while a number of other large American organisations have sent buyers to Britain to look for suitable goods. On the other hand, some British merchants are beginning to experii ence difficulty in finding the goods with which to fill American orders. , Recently one firm missed a large dollar order because it could not give delivery in time, and then found that adequate stocks had been diverted by the manufacturer to a sterling buyer who was prepared to offer a higher price. “It is futile to expect additional supplies to be produced as a result of Government -exhortations,” states the Guardian. “In the short run, they can only be sold for dollars if they are diverted from other- markets. Manufacturers cannot be expected to divert j goods in this way on any large scale unless there is sufficient incentive. It is entirely in the hands of the Government to introduce a financial policy which will free British products for sale in North America."