EXPORT OF BUTTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19807, 30 November 1927, Page 14

EXPORT OF BUTTER.

PENALISING NEW ZEALAND. HIGHER AUSTRALIAN DUTY. CANADA ALSO MOVING. TRADE AGREEMENT ADVOCATED. The raising of the tariff wall against New Zealand butter and cheese in Australia, and the agitation by Canadian fanners for the restoration of the dumping duty against New Zealand butter aro viewed with concern by local exporters. The Australian move, now definitely translated into action by increasing the duty against New Zealand dairy produce from twopence to sixpence a pound, was not unexpected, and, in any case, cannot operate for six months. The Canadian agitation is viewed by at least one Auckland exporter as providing strong grounds for the making of a separate trade agreement, between New Zealand and Canada. "It looks very much like retaliation for our action in connection with Australian wheat and flour," said the representative of large exporting interests with reference to Australia's decision. In view of the fact that the existing reciprocal agreement stipulated that any change in the tariff could not operate until after six months' notice, the exporter expressed the opinion that Australia might hold the increased duty over New Zealand's head as a threat, without putting the authority into effect. New Zealand shipped most better to Australia between April and August, and could do so then at a cost of Is 2d a box, or jd a lb, lie added. If the New Zealand export price were sufficiently lower at such time than the local Australian price, New Zealand could undercut. Australia's latest move was a direct attempt, in his view, to protect the Paterson scheme, whereby a bonus of threepence a pound is paid to maintain the Australian market price above the London parity. Only a " Catch Trade." Another exporter pointed out that New Zealand's dairying trade with Australia was only a catch one, and the fact that New Zealand exported £500,000 worth of butter to Australia during* the last fiscal year was due to the dry season experienced. The present duty on New Zealand butter and cheese entering Australia is twopence a pound. "The Canadian reference to a dumping duty is somewhat humorous," remarked the exporter, in pointing out that New Zealand butter was sold on a world parity and there was no question of dumping in the strict sense of the term. The need for a trade treaty between New Zealand and Canada was strongly urged by Mr. F. H. Leonard, of Leonard and Son, Limited. "Neither the Government nor the Dairy Board lias made any attempt, in spite of repeated representations, to secure a direct agreement with Canada, and we are consequently suffering from a policy of drift," he said. Mr, Leonard added that Canadian merchants had this year adopted the policy of i>elling their summer butter and securing supplies from New Zealand to meet the local winter demand.

Message Sent to Member. Under a memorandum of Order-in-Coun-cil, New Zealand butter enjoys the same advantages on the Canadian market as Australian butter does under the reciprocal trade agreement between Canada and Australia. In this connection the Hinuera Dairy Company, of which Mir. W. A. E. Leonard is secretary, sent the following communication to Mr. J. A. Nash, M.P., yesterday:—"Might we ask you to call the attention of the Government to the fact that a further strong agitation is in progress in Canada, urging cancellation of the trade agreement with Australia, whereby Australian butter (and by Order-in-Counei), New Zealand butter also), is allowed to enter Canada if sold before shipment, at a duty of 1 cent per lb instead of a dumping duty of 6 cents per lb"It is a matter of keen regret to us that the Dairy Board has not taken up this matter, which would fall within its legitimate scope, but it is felt in commercial circles especially that New Zealand should press for a separate trade agreement with Canada on a reciprocal basis. We import from Canada three times as much value in commodities as we can ever hope to export in butter and cheese, and it is surely a matter of comparative advantage that reciprocity between the two countries should continue. The Hororata's Loading.

"The impo-'ation of New Zealand butter into the C!o> onwealth is negligible as compared wi*_ ? value of New Zealand trade this year, and, in our opinion, the Government should be urged to make some definite move to counteract the agitation of the Canadian dairymen to put difficulties in the way of our most valuable export trade." The Hororata would load at Auckland for Halifax and New York on January 19, said Mr. Leonard, and a good opportunity was offered for placing fair-sized parcels of butter on those markets, but tho present uncertainty, duo to the absence of a definite agreement, made negotiations difficult. Tho Order-in-Council. he pointed out, could bo suspended at any time, while it would, of course, disappear if the agitation to cancel the agreement between Canada and Australia succeeded.