AMERICAN WOOL TRADE

Waipa Post, Volume 32, Issue 1778, 3 July 1926, Page 2

AMERICAN WOOL TRADE

CRIPPLING EFFECT OF DUTIES, “ AMERICA FOR T.HE AMERICANS.” I have maintained from the very beginning that the import d,uties on colonial wool have helped to administer a crushing blow, and anyone looking impartially at the position of things can have only come to the same conclusion (writes a Bradford correspondent). The imposition of a tariff is the business of the American public. . They gave their votes in its favour al> the last election, and, having done so, ought to be given some credit for knowing what they were doing. At the same time it is impossible to carry the cry, “ America for the Americans,” too far; and I think that 31 cents import duty on wool is too high. The American textile industry ought to have participated in the wave of prosperity. .More ready-to-wear suits and costumes ought to have been procurable at a reasonable price. To find other trades in a state of boom and, the American textile industry the opposite is an anomaly that cannot be easily explained. THE ROOT OF THE TROUBLE.

Dr Lewis H. Haney, director of the New York University Bureau of Business Research, has been giving some interesting details of the position. After stating that “ the sale of woollen and worsted goods has remained at a disappointingly low level for many months,” Dr Haney adds that “ the root of the trouble lies in the relatively high price of raw wool, which is out of line with the general level of commodity prices, and with other textiles.” I see no reason why the general slackness in the United States should be attributed to “ the relatively high price of wool.” At least it is not true regarding the price of wool outside the high tariff walls of the United, States. Wool values to-day rest on a sound economic basis, at least so far as Europe is' concerned; and the price alone need not prevent the fairly free buying of new clothing. It is only when 15d per clean lb is added to the present cost of wool that there is reason for complaint about it being dear. American mills must import something 'like 50 per cent of their raw materials, and with every process of manufacture costing correspondingly more than anywhere else, these high charges are bound to be handed forward to the ultimate consumer. 'Hence clothing is dear in the United States, which means that the general public’s ward,robe is very lightly stocked indeed.

: A far saner policy would be to put, say, an import duty of 20 cents per clean lb upon colonial wool, if there should be any duties at all; but it seems to the majority that if American mills, like those of all Europe, could be given free access to the raw materials of the world, the general public would participate, and mills would run full time. American sheep breeders would lose nothing in the long run, for what they lost in lower values for their wool they would gain by being able to buy cheaper clothing. America has been very largely out of the picture for some years, and has been a disappointing customer to London and Australia, her purchases being much below general expectations. The \prevailfe in Bradford that there is too much machinery in the United States, and on account of economic conditions an export trade cannot be done. Consequently the mills do not get on to their feet as they should! 'Cheaper clothing would certainly encourage a larger consumption, followed by the running of mills full time.