TRADE EXPANSION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21467, 15 April 1933, Page 10

TRADE EXPANSION

MR. ROOSEVELT'S BID INTERNATIONAL TREATIES SUGGESTED NEGOTIATIONS AUTHORITY BEING SOUGHT By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received April 14, G. 35 p.m.) . / NEW YORK. April 13 The Washington correspondent of the New York Times says that President Roosevelt's request for the broadest possible authority in negotiating international trade agreements, similar in character to the dictatorial powers ho has used in meeting the domestic emergency, will be sent to Congress in tho next few days. The main outline of the measure has been completed and the details arc expected to bo sufficiently agreed upon for the President to write his special message to Congress. Tariff experts and leaders of Congress and officials of the State and Commerce Departments have all been busy on tho project which Mr. Roosevelt desires to bo enacted before the representatives of 42 nations gather in Washington for discussions preliminary to tho World Economic Conference. Details o! the Powers Sought The President under the new bill will ■eek the following powers:— (1) Sole authority to change tho existing tariff rates by executive proclamation subject only to submitting the changes in a report to Congress. (2) Power to negotiate a multilateral treaty at the Workl Economic Conference whereby all tariff duties would bo decreased horizontally. (3) Authority to make bilateral agreements for a reduction beyond the multilateral horizontal reductions to the maximum of 50 per cent permitted under the flexible provisions of the present Tariff Act. , (4) Authority to enunciate a policy of bargaining with other nations in ad--justing tariff rates as well as the " difference in the cost of production " system followed under the present Tariff Act. / Difficult Points ior Congress The .framers of the bill, if they can find a way around the constitutional inhibitions involved probably will include in the measure authority for the President to effect even greater than tire 50 per cent reductions proscribed in the present law, or to transfer articles from the dutiable list to the free list and vice-versa. The principal question involved is how far Congress cjfn go in delegating authority to the President to change the tariff rates without denying its own constitutional mandate to fix the rates for the Government's revenue. One of the other outstanding difficulties is the President's campaign pledge given at Baltimore on October 25 that he would not lower agricultural tariffs. State Department experts have found this an Embarrassing complication, particularly as relating to the possible trade agreement between Argentina and Canada which is interested primarily in lowering the rates on primary products. .WASHINGTON PARLEYS « . ■ EXTENSION OF PLAN NATIONS' VIEWS SOUGHT WASHINGTON, April 12 The State Department to-day announced that Notes had been sent to all the nations that have diplomatic missions in Washington, but have not been invited to send special representatives to President Roosevelt's pending conversations, inviting them to exchange views, through diplomatic channels. , This action followed reports of disjatisfaction among some of the countries which ,were not among the 11 picked for special invitations. Notes were sent to 24 diplomatic missions in Washington, inviting their nations to exchange views on the broad aspects of the general economic conference and armaments limitation. Each of these was/ accompanied by a personal Note from Mr. Cordell Hull, Secretary of State, referring to tho apparent impossibility of all nations sending special representatives because of the lack of time. Japan to-day formally accepted the invitation from President Roosevelt to eend a leading statesman to the conversations in Washington.