DOMINION’S TRADE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 229, 26 August 1938, Page 8

DOMINION’S TRADE

THE BRITISH MARKET. Per Press Association. HAMILTON, Aug. 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, manag-ing-director of Amalgamated Dairies, Limited, at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Co. to-day. “Especially is this likely to be the case if the long-talked-of and much-lioped-for Anglo-American trade agreement is finalised in the near future. Such an achievement is likely to have far-reaching 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 Ne|w Zealand 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 £28,200.000 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 samll local sales, combined with big exports, made it almost impossible for the dairy-farmers of this Dominion to do what every other country was 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 tuber policy would sooner or later land the country in serious difficulties. Mr Goodfellow indicated that he was sufficiently conservative to believe m proved methods, and he doubted very much if either this or any other Government could for long insulate New Zealand against a serious tall in wor ; d prices. The compensating price campaign was supported bv shareholders, and it was decided to contribute 6d a ton or butter and 3d a ton of cheese manufactured by the company, such assistance to continue for one year.