TRADE WITH BRITAIN

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20266, 28 March 1934, Page 5

TRADE WITH BRITAIN

Effect of Reduction in Tariff. STATEMENT BY MR FORBES. Per Press Association, WELLINGTON. March 27 “I am inclined to regard the statement as political speculation,” said the Prime Minister (Mr Forbes) when asked to comment on the London cablegram relating to New Zealand’s trade wi’ h Britain. Mr Forbes said that the Secretary for the Dominions, Mr Thomas, had made the position clear in replies to cablegrams sent him by New Zealand. Both the cablegrams and the replies had been made public during the recent Dairy Conference. Mr Forbes pointed out that New Zealand had not made an offer to reduce tai iffs, but had simply made an inquiry as to what would be the effect of a reduction in tariffs on Britain’s attitude towards the Dominion’s products. “The cablegram we sent makes it perfectly clear that there is no offer to lower tariffs,” said Mr Forbes. The political correspondent of the “News Chronicle” stated on Monday that a message sent by the British Government to New Zealand foreshadowed the doom of the Ottawa Agreements. The Secretary of State for the Dominions, Mr J. H. Thomas, replying to the recent inquiries made by the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Mr Forbes, regarding reciprocity, hinted th>t the advantages proffered would not out-weigh the severity of dominion competition with British farm pioducts. Cabinet believed that the imports of dominion agricultural products would have to be forcefully restricted, immediately the expiry of the Ottawa Agreements freed the Government’s hands.