TRADE WITH AMERICA

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIX, Issue 281, 12 November 1929, Page 7

TRADE WITH AMERICA

NEW ZEALAND’S POSITION. COMMISSIONER'S &OMMENT.

Mr Julian B. Foster, American Trade Commissioner in New Zealand, after a rather strenuous business visit to the United States and interviews wifh his department at Washington, has now resumed duties. He was much impressed he said, by the interest shown in 'New Zealand by mnufaeturers in every industrial centre he visited, and in which he gave public lectures and had personal interviews with the heads of great Commercial and manufacturing enterprises. He found importers of raw and semimanufactured materials such as New Zealand produced, most keen for such first-hand information as _he 'fluid give. These importing firths were in two groups, those with long establish ed and mutually satisfactory trade connections with New Zealand, and those who were desirous of getting into direct touch with producers Of course, Mr Foster remarked, New Zealand already does a very considerable trade with the United States through London, but he found a grow ing interest in the United State, for direct trade.

Manufacturers seeking markets for their products were generally w«U informed upon the potentialities of the New Zealand market, at the same time Mr Foster found them one and all only too glad of an opportunity to learn what he, as Trade Commission er, had to say about them and the changing conditions of fashion, taste, and methods. More real information was impartable in ten minutes or a quarter of an hour’s talk than could be obtained from correspondence or printed reports. Mr Foster was greatly impressed, he said, by not only the growing trade between New Zealand and the United States, but of the marked increase in the American imports from New Zealand. The exports from the Un’ted States to New Zealand for the full year for 1928 amounted in round figures to 36,000,00 dollars; and the imports of New Zealand from the United States in that year to 19 200,000 dollars, a difference in favour of the United States of 16,800,000 dollars. But this margin was being materially reduced during the cur-ent year. He had not at hand the official United States returns beyond 30th June, but for the first six months of 1929 the American imports from New Zealand were of the value of 18,759,900 dollars, and the exports from the United States to New Zealand for the same period wore 19 105,000 dollars, a difference against New Ze i land of 5,346,000 dollars. Assuming that the returns for the latter half of 1929 equalled those of the first six months, the total American imports from New Now Zealand would reach 27,518,000 dollars; the exports to New Zealand would total 38,210,000 dollars, with a balance against New Zealand for 1929 of 10,692000 dollars in contrast with 16,800,000 dollars for last year. These official figures might be fairly accepted as indicating the expansion of the export trade of New Zealand with the United States. Incidentally that trade had been steadily growing since the establishment of the Trade Commissioner’s office in New Zealand, and would, he thought, continue to grow.