NEW BRITISH TARIFF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21116, 25 February 1932, Page 11

NEW BRITISH TARIFF.

DEBATE CONTINUED. PREPARING FOR OTTAWA. POLICY OF GOVERNMENT. DISCUSS ANY PROPOSAL. I FOODS AND LIVING COST, j By Telesra r.h—Press Association—Copyright. . (Received February 24, 8.15 p.m.) ] LONDON. Feb. 23. ! The debate on the Imports Duties Bill ; was continued to-day in the House of j : Commons. Mr. 0. Lewis (Conservative —Colchester) asked if the British delegates to the ; Ottawa Conference would be willing to : discuss a preferential duty on meat. The Secretary of State for the Do- i minions, Mr. J. 11. Thomas, said the . Government was prepared to discuss any j proposal. Sir H. Page Croft (Conservative — j Bournemouth) : We are definitely to j understand that the questions of meat and wheat will not. he precluded from the discussion ? Mr. Thomas: It will be open to any Dominion to submit any proposal. Mr. W. Thorne (Labour —Plaistow): Is it the intention of the Government to reduce instead of increasing the tariffs? Mr. Thomas: Personally, I support the tariffs because I believe that as. bargaining powers they afford the only means of reducing tariffs. Extension of the Free List. Tho Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Neville Chamberlain, referring to the free list under the bill, said the Government's policy in that connection was founded expediency. It had tried to judge each item on its own merits. It proposed to extend the free list. Pearls, semi-precious stones and platinum would be included in it with gold and silver bullion. It was proposed to include all animal hair, also esparto grass used in making a certain class of paper would be included with wood pulp. .As the result of representations it was proposed to include all metallic ores, also concentrates and residues of copper not produced within the Empire in sufficient quantity to fulfil the requirements of British copper manufacturers. Therefore raw copper in its various forms would be on the free list. Difficulty in Regard to Maize. Continuing, Mr. Chamberlain said the Government had had difficulty in deciding about maize. It was an important foodstuff, of which Britain imported £10,000,000 worth a year. Two-thirds came from Argentina and a duty on it would yield £1,000,000. On the other hand, as maize was largely used in the production of pigs, poultry and cattle, a duty would be hard on the British farmer. Furthermore, Argentina was a country with which it was hoped to make mutual arrange- 1 ments. The Government had decided that on the whole it would be best to put maizo on the free list. In regard to the proposal to omit meat from the free list, the Chancellor said it chiefly concerned the cost of living. At present it was artificially low and must rise. The Government ,was not pledged never in any circumstances to tax meat, but at present it regarded it as imprudent. What Tax on Meat Would Mean. Mr. L. S. Amery, formerly Dominion Secretary, said taxation on meat would yield eight times as much as maize. Argentina bad no other market for her meat than Britain. A duty of a halfpenny a lb. would be borne by the producer, not by the British consumer. The British Ministers at Ottawa must ba free to agree to duties on meat. Sir Page Croft said a duty on meat would furnish a greater opportunity for satisfactory agreements with the Dominions than other products. In Australia, New Zealand and the Irish Free State meat and pig products were uppermost in consideration. Taxation of foreign supplies would produce a substantial revenue and assist in obtaining reciprocity from Argentina. Was the Government going to Ottawa empowered to offer preferences on meat and its products, or was the door already closed ? Sir Stafford Cripps (Labour —Bristol East) said that the President of the Board of Trade, Mr. Walter Runciman, had given a specific election pledge that wheat and meat would not be taxed. Textile Trade and Dominions. Mr. E. Ramsden (Conservative— Bradford North) sought information in regard to {he suggested transference of sections of the textile industries to the Dominions. Mr. Runciman said the possibility of British industries and Empire industries making arrangements for mutual beneficial co-operation was under consideration in preparation for the Ottawa Conference. Mr. Ramsdeii: Has it been suggested that the textile industry should transfer parts of its machinery to the Dominions ? Mr. Runciman : No. lam not aware of any official suggestion in that direction, but any arrangements made by tho British textile trade with the Dominions naturally ..will have our blessing. Mr. Chamberlain, in winding up the debate, said the problem of the stock raiser was not easily solved. It was difficult to see how to give _ hirn adequate protection without duties higher than 10 per cent., but an import duty was not the only method. He asked the House to be patient. The cost of living at present was the vulnerable point. The Government could not afford to take risks. This was not a question of political expediency, but of economic considerations.