3,300,000 DOLLARS WORTH OF TRACTORS FROM U.S.A. FOR N.Z.

Grey River Argus, 14 October 1949, Page 3

3,300,000 DOLLARS WORTH OF TRACTORS FROM U.S.A. FOR N.Z.

Commg In The New Year

P.A. WELLINGTON, October 13. The Government intended to provide for imports of agricultural tractors from America next year, with an increased concentration on .the largei crawler machines, said the Minister of Customs, Rt. Hon. W. Nash, in a statement to-night. In this he outlined the position regarding the imports of artetors, graders, and agricultural machinery from dollar sources.

“The Government has, for some time, been giving special consideration to provision which should be made for these types of equipment”, said Mr Nash, “and has had before it the results of a survey conducted by the Federated Farmers of needs of the farming industry, together with reports of its own officers. “Th e recent announcement that licences were being granted, immediately, for the importation of large numbers of hay balers, and harvester threshers, and a limited number of side rakes and tedders, represents the first step toward meeting these needs, and the bulk of this machinery is expected to arrive in New Zealand in time for the coming harvest.

“In deciding what provision should be made for the imports of any goods from dollar sources, there are three important factors to be considered”, said the Minister. “These are: Firstly, the need for the goods;' secondly, the extent to which the requirements can be met from local production, or from sterling or soft currency sources; and thirdly, the amount of dollar exchange which, having regard to other commitments, can be made available. It will be appreciated that the problems associated with the widened dollar gap, and with the recent devaluation of sterling, have not made the position any easier as yet, and that, even in the case of the most essential commodities, great care must be taken to ensure that dollars are not spent unnecessarily. Fortunately, the difficulties have lessened insofar as tractors, farm machinery, and graders are concerned, by a phenomenal increase in the production of this equipment in the United Kingdom. But there are still some fields in which the British production is not yet quite adequate to meet the special requirements of the New Zealand farmers, and it is, therefore, necessary until that gap is closed, to find dollars to provide for the equipment in these fields.

“At present, however, no definite plans can be made for the second half of 1950, as June 30, 1950, will be the end of the current year for the balance of payments between the sterling and dollar areas. Developments during the rest of tX? year ending Jun e 30 next will, therefore, to some extent, dictate the action which can be taken to cover the requirements in the period July-December, 1950.

“It is, accordingly, proposed to provide for the importation of four hundred and forty medium and heavy’ agricultural crawler tractors from the United States in the first half of 1950. These, together with spare parts needed to maintain existing and new equipment, will probably cost about twenty-three hundred thousand dollars. “In addition, there will be about one million dollars made available for the imports of industrial tractors and spares, making a total of approximately thirty-three hundred thousand dollars for tractors and parts to be imported in the first half of 1950 from the dollar areas. Fortunately, it will not be necessary to import many American graders, as this type of equipment is now much more readily available from other sources, and it is not expected that it will be necessary to spend more than about one hundred and sixty thousand dollars on these in the first half of 1950. “It should be noted”, concluded Mr Nash, “that this is for the first hab" only of 1950, and that the extent to which additional licences can be issued for the second half of the year will be determined as soon as the whole position of sterling-dollar trade becomes clearer. The amounts I have stated are estimates only”.