THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 1983. THE OTTAWA AGREEMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21992, 29 June 1933, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 1983. THE OTTAWA AGREEMENTS

The Acting-Premier did not hesitate, in the course of his remarks in opening the South Taranaki Winter Show, to express the opinion that a return to prosperity would not be much longer delayed. Suggestions of that nature are apt to meet different receptions according to the ground upon which they fall, but Mr Coates was not merely offering a cheerful generalisation. His confidence is based to a large extent on the tone of the market, and the upward trend of prices in respect of shares as well as in respect of certain commodities in which this country is deeply interested. Already, in Mr Coates's view, the effect of the Ottawa agreements is being felt in' all parts of the Empire, and he anticipates that New Zealand will enjoy very beneficial results from them, particularly in relation to the meat market. Nearly a year has elapsed since the Ottawa Conference took place, and in a comprehensive Trade and Engineering Supplement published by The Times on May 20, which embraces a British Empire Products number, a considerable amount of concrete evidence is furnished relating chiefly, though not exclusively, to tariff changes, these showing, it is observed, that the leaven of Ottawa is working. The dominions have yet to submit their tariffs to some revision on the basis of the principles of reasonable competition as laid down in the Ottawa agreements, but from the British point of view it appears to be regarded as a great step forward to have it conceded, in principle at least, that the protection afforded to local industries " shall not be of a character so stringent as to rule out possible competition from Great Britain." The policy adopted at Ottawa has brought into effect, the Secretary of State for the Dominions recently pointed out, methods of cooperation instead of competition, and already conclusions reached at the conference have been followed by almost continuous consultation between the Governments concerned on all manner of economic questions affected by their provisions, and thus fresh occasions have been provided for co-ordination of their views. Mr Thomas cited as an example of the value of the Ottawa agreements to trade the fact that lower duties are now imposed in respect of a large volume of British exports to Canada, while many goods go into that country for the first time under the duty-free heading of the tariff. The preference now accorded to British products in India is represented as another valuable result of Ottawa. As regards the more significant question of tariff policy, the effects of the Ottawa agreements on inter-Empire trade have yet, however, to come to fruition. Concerning the articles to which the dominions have subscribed, including those relative to the Tariff Boards, the writer of an interesting contribution on Imperial Economic' Co-operation in The Times Empire Products number observes:— "They imply that tariff-making will be largely taken out of politics—an objective of which only those who have had some experience of direct tariff- i making by Parliaments can fully appreciate the importance. Those who looked for sudden changes from these wider aspects of the Ottawa agreements can have had little knowledge of dominion affairs. The storm of opposition from manufacturers and

from the high protectionist Labour Party in Australia, and the sustained attacks by the Canadian Opposition upon what was described ,as a surrender of the powers of Parliament, show clearly that the Dominion Governments will have to proceed cautiously in giving effect to these decisions." It is added, discreetly enough, that if the full development of the promised change-over to the selective use of tariffs is left to the Governments to carry out without the active cooperation of the industrialists the difficulties may prove so great that progress Avill be exceedingly slow. The view is editorially expressed in The Times that patience is still necessary in the matter of the materialisation of the results of the Ottawa Conference in their relation to inter-Imperial trade, and the prediction is offered—which, it is to be hoped, may be fully verified—that when normal trading conditions return j the benefits of the agreements will be j more clearly revealed to everyone.