TRADE WITH BRITAIN

Otago Witness, Issue 3488, 18 January 1921, Page 37

TRADE WITH BRITAIN

THE NEW ZEALAND MARKET. EFFECTS OF THE WAR. HINTS FOR RECOVERY. In his annual report of the trade of New Zealand just to hand Mr R. W. Dalton, British Trade Commissioner, deals interestingly with the after-war relations of British manufacturers with tiie New Zealand market. Mr Dalton adopts the method of dividing the trade into competitive and non-competi-tive lines, and shows what share the United Kingdom has been able to hold of each compared with previous years. His table of percentages, which is most instructive, is as follows :—•

BRITAIN’S LOST TRADE. Proceeding, the report says:—Prior to the war the United Kingdom share of the competitive imports of New Zealand was 67 per cent. Since the war the United Kingdom share of the competitive imports of New Zealand has declined to about 45 per cent, of the total, whereas, in the meantime, the United States share has increased from 11 per cent, to 27 per cent. I thin!-: it may be taken to be true that prior to the war a good deal of the trade between the United Kingdom and New Zealand had become “routine” trade. Since the war, however, buyers have been forced to look for other sources of supply. Many of the goods which have been introduced since the war have been unsatisfactory, and some of the methods of foreign competitors have 'been unacceptable. Many of the goods which have been imported from other sources have, however, proved satisfactory, and even in the case of goods which were originally unsatisfactory considerable improvement has been shown; in short, the channel of trade to New Zealand has suffered by diversion in certain respects, with the result that the United Kingdom position on the market is not as strong as it formerly was. THE NEW CONDITIONS. On the other hand, the preference of New Zealand buyers for British goods, ii it has changed at all, has strengthened. It will not be sufficient, however, to rely on the strengthening of this preference for British goods to effect an entire recovery of British trade with New Zealand. The position during the war has changed so materially that I think a very active organisation will now be necessary if United Kingdom manufacturers are to recover ground which has been lost. Primarily, 1 think that the greatest need will be found to be a more active personal touch with the market. In some trades buyers will naturally revert to British sources of supply as soon as they find that their demands can be met. In others it is feared tis r tew sources of supply disccveitd since the war will retain their hold unless active steps are taken bv British manufacturers to re-introduce their goods. There is a third class of goods —that is, goods notv manufactured in the United Kingdom on a greater scale, which were practically unknown in New Zealand prior to the war, in which even greater activities will I -• required if foreign goods, strongly established here prior to the war, are to be removed from their pre-eminent position. A SERIOUS POSITION. In another section of the report Mr Dal ton says: The most serious position which British trade has to face in the New Zealand market is the fear in the minds of importers and agents that they arc not being treated fairly by British firms in the matter of delivery. It- is a well-known fact that New Zealand is intensely patriotic, and this patriotism is carried into the daily life of its people to a much greater extent, probably, than the same patriotism at Home. When I was at Home 1 tried to convey tho meaning of this attitude in terms of business for the purpose of showing the need for delicate treatment of it in all questions which might arise between New Zealand and United Kingdom business men. The need for this delicacy of treatment was always great, but it is far greater to-day than it has ever been. AN OBLIGATION ON BRITISH TRADERS. Practically every New Zealander is interested in business, and tho average New Zealander feels strongly now that there should be given to him by firms at Home

a preference in treatment which is not given to foreign firms, and he fears that, far from this being so, the preference in treatment is, in fact, going abroad. Expressed in pqpular terms, it means this: that in the time of crisis New Zealand was not only prepared to deny itself and to hold ns much of its trade as it could for British firms after the war, but was also prepared, without thought of consequences, to throw all its weight into the war. Now that the war is over, there is a feeling that there is a certain obligation on the other side. Side by side with this feeling there is the knowledge which cannot be hidden that firms at Home, since the war, have been in a very strong position as sellers, that they have in most cases been able to quote their own terms, that they have had very profitable markets nearer than New Zealand, and that there was, therefore, every opportunity for them to neglect 6uch a distant market, unless th4y gave careful thought with a view to doing the best they could for it. But more serious than this, probably, has been, the doubt as to whether British firms were not taking advantage of the present price situation to extract as much as possible from such business as they might do here. Advances have been the order of the day, and in many cases these advances have been heavy and quickly following one another. T’he position was difficult enough to follow at Home, and, therefore, it cannot bo wondered at that firms here have, at times, been entirely unable to understand the reasons for all these advances in detail, or have been at times suspicious that they were not founded on just reasons. THE GOOD NAME OF BRITISH TRADE. Fortunately, I have had the opportunity of being in England quite recently, and have been able myself to judge the situation. I believe that the belief that British firms are not giving due consideration to their customers in this market is, in the main, unfounded. When I was travelling through the United Kingdom I found that there was a very great feeling of affection for this dominion in the minds of a great many manufacturers, and that those manufacturers were, in fact, prepared to Bupplv this market with a reasonable share of its demands, in some cases even at a loss compared with profits which could he secured from other markets. The greatest failing that can be laid at tha door of the British manufacturer is, in my opinion, that he is not communicative, lrr ordinary times, perhaps, this does not matter so much, though even then I think that an improvement in correspondence ;a vitally necessary. At present, however, there can be no two opinions that some very active propaganda work is necessary if tho good, name which British trade has always had is not to be sullied.

competiti ve. ti ve. Total. Countries. 1918. 1919. 1918. 1919. 1918. 1919. U. Kingdom Australia ... ... p.c. 45.8 £.0 p.c. 2.3 p.c. 6.6 .?5° 9 87°6 14.0 10.5 25.8 22.2 16.7 12.8 Canada 6.0 6.4 0.3 0.9 3.9 6.4 V. States 21.8 27.2 25.1 22.0 22.6 26.2 Japan 6.i 6.0 1.8 1.6 6.2 4.3 Other countries 7.2 6.9 44.7 46.8 15.7 13.7 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0