THE EMPIRE’S TRADE

Southland Times, Issue 18962, 8 June 1923, Page 4

THE EMPIRE’S TRADE

It is abundantly clear that the representatives from the dominions are going to the Empire Trade Conference with the idea of securing a scheme of Imperial preference which will embrace every unit in the Empire. The Prime Minister of Australia has spoken of the requests he has had from fourteen countries to arrange reciprocal tariff concessions, and he has bluntly told the Old Country that Imperial preference must be granted by her, presumably by means of a tariff on foodstuffs. It is at this point that the Imperial Government meets its difficulties. In the dominions, Imperial preference is given by means of concessions in duties on manufactured articles (for the great part), but Britain cannot give any advantage unless she is prepared to put an impost on primary products. She has a duty on sugar, it is true, but it can be said that foodstuffs are not burdened and there are millions of poor people who must suffer if food prices move upward by the smallest possible margin, and we in the dominions must not forget their awful case. It is estimated that about thirty per cent, of Britain’s

people are below the breadline, and that fact alone will make any British Minister hesitate before he agrees to a tariff which will put duties on food. The dominions will put forward some strong representations on this subject, and Mr Baldwin may find them exceedingly awkward, because he will undoubtedly encounter opposition from the Opposition and from the Liberals directly he attempts to put an impost on the articles which can be supplied from within the Empire if necessary. The difficulties can be reduced to the simple facts that we are prepared to put duties on manufactured goods, and grant Imperial preference by rebates, while the Old Country hesitates, as any country in the Empire would, to tax raw materials, which are required for the food supply and for manufactures. The desirability of making the Empire self-contained and of developing trade within the Empire is generally recognised, but the application of the tariff to foodstuffs to secure this comes in contact with the domestic politics of the Motherland, on which the dominions in the past have leaned so heavily. Action to secure uniformity in preference will also encounter difficulties based on local conditions, but some progress should be possible. It is clear that the British representatives are going to use their energies in the direction of improvd transportation and communications within the Empire, and the simplification of the commercial processes which affect Imperial trade. Wherever possible the effort should be to facilitate trade development within the Empire, because more solid progress can be made in that way than in a discussion of tariffs.