WOOL TEXTILE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22825, 9 March 1936, Page 10

WOOL TEXTILE

THE INDIAN TRADE TARIFF BOARD"S RECOMMENDATIONS. .From Our Own Cohrkstgndent.) (By Air Mail) LONDON, February 8. After an exhaustive inquiry into conditions in the Indian wool textile industry, the Indian Tariff Board has published its report. The recommendations to the Government of India contained therein, and available statistic and information, concerning the Indian wool textile industry, are summarised in the January issue of the Imperial Economic Committee's "Wool Intelligence Notes." The request of the local industry for this investigation was a direct consequence of the intensive competition of Japanese worsted and Italian woollen goods on the home market, and the board has recommended that an increased measure of protection be afforded the industry as regards blankets, woollen and worsted piece goods and shawls. Protection of Indian yarns is not recommended on the ground that Indian production is as yet inadequate and that the small-scale wool textile and hosiery industries require supplies of cheap yarn. The board has also found that preference may continue to be given to imports from the United Kingdom, without harm to the interests of the Indian industry, and therefore recommends the continuance of the preferential duty of 25 per cent, ad valorem on woollen and worsted piece goods and hosiery. It also recommends the extension of preference to imports of blankets and rugs. The board recommends that, if feasible under the Trade Conventions, to a protective duty of 40 per cent, on worsted shawls and piece goods from foreign countries, an exchange compensation duty should be added against any country on proof of currency depreciation, or similar stimulation of exports. Foreign woollen piece goods and blankets, composed of shoddy and mixed fibres, have been finding a ready market and have been sold'more cheaply than the better quality all-wool goods produced by the home industry. India at present does not manufacture shoddy or " mixed " goods. To meet this competition it is recommended that imports of mixed and shoddy goods under the classification of woollen or worsted, should be subject to the same specific or ad valorem duties as pure woollen goods. A specific duty of one rupee a lb, or alternatively 35 * per cent, ad valorem, is recommended on piece goods classed as "woollens," and a specific duty of four annas a lb combined with nn nd valorem duty of 25 per cent, (with a minimum of one rupee per blanket) on nil woollen blankets containing not less than 25 per fi't. wool. No change is recommended in the import fiu ties on hosiery goods, on the assumption that the duty on yarn is not raised. It must, of course, be understood that these recommendations cannot take effect unless approved by the Government of India.