IMPERIAL PREFERENCE

Thames Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 18356, 1 June 1917, Page 2

IMPERIAL PREFERENCE

j In a recent article we referred to the I objection of a leading French newspaper

to the Imperial preference scheme, which i* was contended would injuriously af-

feet commercial relations between Great

i Britain and her Allies. We expressed the i opinion that a "favoured nation" clause would meet the difficulty. Hie recent) j English mail has placed us in posses- | sion of the report of the committee on i the question. The following are the re-

solutions adopted by the committee: — (1) In the light of experience gained

during the war, we consider that special steps must be taken to stimulate the pro. duction of food-sfcuifs, raw materials and manufactured articles within the Empire wherever the expansion of production is

possible and economically desirable for the safety and welfare of the Empire as a whole. (2) We therefore recommend that H.M. Government should now declare their adherence to the principle that preference should be accorded to the products and manufactures of the British Overseas Dominions in respect of any Customs Duties now or hereafter to be imposed on imports into the United Kingdom. (3) Further, it will in our opinion be necessary to take into early consideration, as one of the methods of achieving the above objects, the desirability of establishing a wider range ol Customs Duties which would be remitter] or reduced on the products and manufactures of the Empire, and' which would form the Basis of commercial treaties with Allied and Neutral Powers. It will thus be seen that the last clause is calculated to meet the difficulty raised % the French journal.