IMPORT DUTY REMITTED.

Northern Advocate, 11 December 1916, Page 1

IMPORT DUTY REMITTED.

A DISQUIETING SEQUEL.

AUSTRALIAN QUOTATIONS GO UP,

Following on th e decision of the New Zealand Government, as advised by the Board of Trade, to remit the £1 import duty on flour, the price quoted for Australian flour, f.o.b. at Sydney for Auckland, has "jumped" £1 15s per ton in 1- hours. On Thursday night last a cable message from Sydney gave the quotation at £11 5s per ton, and another cable on Friday morning placed the price at £13. The quotation covers the months of December and January. In the opiniou of a well-known Auckland dealer the Sydney people, having learned of tho remission, foresee a - greater demand and have promptly elevated the price in order to secure larger profits. Whereas th c effect of the £1 duty in the past has been to protect the local industry and the Dominion farmer, the latter will not now find it profitable to grow wheat, and the outcome (in the merchant's view) will be irreparable damage to the milling industry and make lhe Dominion dependent upon Australia for flour. A. contrary opinion is held by the Auckland manager of the Farmers' Union Trading Company, who says the fact must be considered that New Zealand bakers cannot use Australian flour by itself. They use a mixture of local and Australian. He considered that the action of the Government would tend to steady the market, which has been rising for some time, and that it would not make much difference to producers of wheat or even the millers,