U.S.A. CAMPAIGN TO FREE WORLD TRADE FROM TARIFF BARRIERS BEING PUSHED FURTHER NEXT YEAR

Grey River Argus, 11 October 1949, Page 5

U.S.A. CAMPAIGN TO FREE WORLD TRADE FROM TARIFF BARRIERS BEING PUSHED FURTHER NEXT YEAR

33 COUNTRIES ALREADY ARE CO OPERATING IN ANNECY AGREEMENTS (Received 9.25) WASHINGTON, October 9 President Truman and the State Department are preparing for new world tariff-cutting negotiations in 1950. These negotiations are meant to permit European and other countries to earn more dollars, as well as to increase the trade of! the world generally. They will likely be conducted in the autumn of 1950. They regarded as the logical step, following agreements that have been concluded in Annecy in France, towards the United States policy objective of returning to multilateral, low-tariff trading throughout a free world. Recently Congress gave its approval to Hie United States Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act, empowering the President to adjust the present U.S. tariffs by fifty per cent, in international negotiations. This approval was regarded as paving the way for new assaults on the world's trade barriers.

U.S. CONCESSIONS 250 MILLION DOIS.

Details of 33 Nation Agreement LONDON, Oct. 9 American tariff concession involving about 250,000,000 dollars worth of overall imports to the United States in terms of 1948 trade were announced to-day as part of a new pattern of world, trade affecting 33 nations. The concessions arer the result of the recent lengthy negotiations at Annecy in France. The 33 nations, with trade estimated at more than 80 per cent, of the world's total, thrashed out new pattern in four-and-a-half months of tariff-breaking talks at Annecy, between April 8 and August 27. Twenty-three of the nations were original signatories of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs — known as G.A.T.T.—who agreed to extensive tariff concession two years ago in Geneva. These nations are Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Burma, Canada, Ceylon, Chile, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, France, India, Lebanon, Luxemburg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, Syria, Britain, and the United States. The other ten nations are: Denmark, Dominican Republic, Finland, , Greece, Haiti, Italy, Liberia, Nicaragua, Sweden and Uruguay. They sought accession to G.A.T.T. During the Annecy talks its was only these 10 new nations who negotiated concessions between themselves and with existing members, but under G.A.T.T. all contracting parties grant most-favourea nation treatment to each other. Thus any tariff concession granted by one country to another is automatically extended to all other members.

FIVE THOUSAND ITEMS INVOLVED

The results of all their talks, released simultaneously to-day in the capitals of the countries concerned, name about 5000 items on the new tariff lists. The concessions will have to be approved by the legislatures of most countries and alterations in the existing rates of duty will not be made before January 1, 1950.

AMERICA’S CONCESSIONS

The American concessions—vitally important to a dollar-hungry world —include both reductions of some present bai’Hss a,.d guarantees against the raising of others.

The American Concessions apply to specified items as chemicals, vegetable oils, iron and steel and their products, machinery, meat and fish products, dairy products, fruit and nuts, boots, shoes and other leather goods.

The concessions granted to American exports include cotton, tobacco, automotive vehicles an? parts, aircraft and parts, industrial and agricultural mrchinery, metals, petroleum products, plastics, textiles and furs, rubber products, and motion pictures and other photographic products. The United States State Department issued a statement today describing the Annecy conference as ‘another landmark in international commercial relations.”

Explaining the United States concessions, the State Department said: “They apply to products which the United States imported -n 1948 from the acceding countries to the value of 143,064,000 dollars o? 37 per cent, of the total imports from the acceding countries in that year.”

British Press Gives Cautious Welcome

(Rec. 7.10). LONDON, October 10. Newspapers in England have given a welcome to the news of the tariff reductions which are being made in order to achieve the United States object of increasing the trade of the world. The British press, however, is cautious in its welcome. The Financial Times commented: “These tariff achievements represent a substantial advance. Judged in the wider context of world trade, the Annecy results are to be welcomed as a demonstration of a new technique. The wonder is that twentythree of the nations have been able, in time, to adapt the existing agreements among, themselves and to absorb ten fresh members”.

The “Daily Telegraph’s” political correspondent said that' Imperial preferences were affected only to a

minor extent by the multi-lateral tariff agreements.

Beaverbrook Vamps

Still on Imperial Preference Tariffs

(Rec. 8.30). LONDON, October 9

BETTER OPPORTUNITIES FOR BRITAIN

Th e Daily Express (the tariffite organ) has featured on its first page what it describes as a policy for Britain “to end the age of scarcity’’. The policy is one devised Lord Beaverbrook. Lord Beaverbrook said: “Restriction and scarcity must not and need not march with us always. Here is a political programing which, if implemented, could wipe out these evils. The Empire comes first. It must, for without the Empire there is no future”.

Lord Beaverbrook said he wanted, first, to establish a system of Empire free trade, and secondly to initiate a new and vast colonial development for raw materials needed for survival and economic independence; and, thirdly, to set up Empire citizenship, and to view inter-imperial population problems as being an indivisible whole, so that people would be available where there was need. Lord Beaverbrook listed three points for re-invigorating British industry, as follows: — (1) A minimum weekly income of f 6 weekly for every workman. (2) No limitations on dividends. (3) Reduction in taxation.

Lord Beaverbrook also said that the pound should be set free. The House of Lords should be abolished. He continued: “The present system of the hereditary Upper Chamber serves no useful purpose. It should be abolished, and be replaced by’ an elected second chamber possessing the same powers”.

The Daily Express, in an editorial said that Lord Beaverbrook’s policy and the Annecy Agreement did not square up. It said: “The Annecy Agreement hangs on -the Geneva Agreement of 1947, and the outcomeis the same. Britain’s trading strength is reduced. The British Empire i: 1 weaker: The total of Britain’s trade that is affected by the Annecy Agreement, on a 1938 value standard, if' £79,300,000. Britain’s advantage ’ under the agreement covers trade worth twenty-two millions sterling on the 1938 value. America’s contribution covers trade worth no more than live hundred thousand sterling pre-war. What sort of a bargain is that? It is nearer four to one than three to one against the British, with America yielding nothing that matters”.

Some of Britain’s Imperial preferences to Commoiiwealtu countries have been affected by tbe Annecy conference. Imperial preference reductions, however, only affect British imports valued at £4,800,000 in 1938 and British valued at £50,000 in 1938. Referring to the tariff reductions, The Times said: “Positive reductions of the restrictions on trade have been brought about by the agreements reached at Annecy. They do not, in themselves, amount to much. The most important achievement of the conference has been to discourage any further increase in trade barriers. But even this is useful at this time when growing difficulties might well lead to new restrictions. European countries, being largely industrial competitors, stand to gain relatively little immediately from the mutual tariff concessions”.

The London information centre of the United Nations said the agreement provided “better opportunities for selling goods to the United States and to earn, more dollars.” The statement added:, “It has restrained countries from taking completely free-handed, one-sided action to suit their convenience without measuring its effects on the trade of other countries. It has brought together, in a persistent atmosphere of goodwill and determination to success, a very large group of countries previously related in their trade policies mainly by individual arrangements.” Britain will gain from concessions made between other countries, which automatically apply to Britain under the “most-favoured nation” clause. Under this heading some concessions made by the United States to the. 10 newly acceding nations. Britain, as head of the sterling bloc, has undertaken not to increase duties on goods of which imports from all the other 32 countries were valued at £73,900,000 in 1938. Britain, in turn, is expected to benefit from concessions on exports valued in 1938 at £22,000,000. A quarter of this trade is affected by tariff reductions and on the remainder the old tariffs will not be raised. CANADA’S PART In Ottawa, trade officials said Canada’s trade with the United States

and Britain would not be greatly affected by the agreement. Canada welcomed the agreement as another step towards multilateral trade, but the concessions were “relatively unimportant” to Canada. The main effect that the Annecy decisions were expected to have on Canadian trade was that Canada hoped to sell a considerable quantity of wheat and bybrid seed corn to Italy, buying from Italy in return more wool and yarn.

Mr L. D. W'lgresS' Tligh Commissioner for Canada in London and chairman of the contracting parties to the agremeent, said in a statement to-day that the agreement was “a definite and constructive step towards bringing about conditions that would make multilateral trade again possible.” He added that plans were now under way for the third round of the tariff negotiations to begin in September, 1950.