BRITISH TRADE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 110, 12 May 1933, Page 5

BRITISH TRADE

RECENT AGREEMENTS DENMARK AND ARGENTINA STATEMENT BY MR. RUNCIMAN. [ British Official Wireless.] RUGBY, May 10. The Danish and Argentine trade agree agreements were discussed in the House of Commons. Mr. W. Runciman said that the agreements were with countries which had been in close commercial alliance with Britain for a very long time. In Argentine nearly all of the great developments of docks, harbours, railways, and roads had been effected out of facilities provided by Britain. The total amount invested in providing Argentine with railways was estimated at over £5OO, 000,000, there being no investment with outside countries comparable with this within the experience of modern industry. In the case of Denmark a large amount of her industrial prosperity had depended, not so much on British enterprise as upon Danish enterprise in the British markets. The balance of trade had for the last twenty years been prcponderatingly on the side of Denmark. In 1930 imports from Denmark exceeded exports to Denmark by five times. Following the exhibition of British goods at Copenhagen, the ratio was reduced in 1932 to 4 to 1, but that did not go far enough. As an outstanding feature of increased trade as the result of the agreement, he cited the orders for Storstrom Bridge, and mentioned the general understanding that for Government and municipal purposes the first offer of orders of iron and steel should be made to the United Kingdom firms, coupled, in the case of the Government, with a price preference of 10 per cent. On the other side, Britain had .given an undertaking regarding Danish bacon and ham. The agreement achieved something in the way of security for the future. An entirely different set of problems presented themselves in regard to Argentina, where, unlike Denmark, tariffs were high, and attempts had been made to secure a reduction in duties under the financial section of the Argentina agreement. There had been sent here about £1,250,000 to liquify small transactions. Beyond that total, the amounts still due would be liquified through the process of bonds on the security of the Argentine Government, to ke placed in the hands of representative authorities here and used by them for the provision of cash in sterling in place of frozen paper. This meant liquifying about £11,000,000. Having once started this process of liquifying cash which had ben frozen under the exchange restriction, they hoped tha: the example would be followed elsewhere Everything would be done on Britain’*' part to rarilitate similar transactions. The representatives of Argentina had undertaken, as regarded goods, of which a substantial proportion of imports into Argentina was derived from the United Kingdom, and in respect of which proposals bad been submitted to them for a reduction in Custom duties,' to revert in general to the rates of duty and valuation of duty of such goods in force in 1930. The discussions were to be continued in Argentina. He pointed out as a remarkable fact that no less than 99 per cent, of the chilled beef exported from Argentina came to Britain. They had to bear in mind in dealing with Argentina wheat, that two other markets, the Home and Dominions markets, were of primary concern to us. The Government hoped by these agreements that they had done something to turn the tide, and they would now tend in the direction of a steadier price level. MR. AMERY’S CRITICISM DOMINIONS NEGLECTED. LONDON, May 10. Mr. L. C. Amery said that both the Danish and Argentina agreements contradicted the whole spirit of the Ottawa agreements. They barred in many directions any expansion of Imperial preference. “We are on the verge of solving the problem of sending Dominions’ chilled beef to Britain. Rhodesia is making hopeful experiments in that direction. I have reason to believe that Australian chilled beef could be brought in good condition. Yet the Argentine agreement will prevent the development of this trade. Denmark has got the minimum quota of our total butter imports compared with the serious diminution in the Dominion supplies.” Valuable as Danish trade was it must be remembered that New Zealand butter represented £3,000,000 in freights alone. The New Zealand shipping trade represented an actual value ’ of £25,000,000. QUOTA SYSTEM DEFENDED BRITAIN’S ATTITUDE DEFINED Received May 11, 5.46 p.m. LONDON, May 11. The Rt. Hon. W. E. Elliot, Minister of Agriculture m the House of Com mens, bam that wheu Britain entered the * Wt-rld Economic Conference she would defend the actions taken to regulate supplies by means of the quota system. He was certain that the conference would approve of planning in. preft rence to an anarchic scramble. Denmark's butter quota maintained the principle of the Home producer first, the Dominion producer second and the foreign third. Neither agreement showed antagonism to increasing Dominion imports, but the market could not stand the supplies now being hulled at it. There were at present unn stiictcd imports’of the Dominions’ butter and cheese. Consequently, the 'nutter price was falling rapidly. Stocks of Home cheese were so heavy that it was impossible to say whether the situation could be saved. It was imperative to seek a higher price, even by restriction imports, or, if necessary, by restriction of production The Government’s measures were sound and he believed other countries would ultimately have to follow the samp line. He denied every onr of Mr. Amery’s charges aoout the sprit of Ottawa. Mr. Filiot announced that if ague uirnts were sanctioned by the Govern meiit he would immediately consul’ representatives of the countries supply ing milk products to Britain with a new to arranging restriction of sup-

plies. The Ottawa agreements provided that the Dominions should agree as to access to this market. We could only deal with them by agreement and consultation. Sir H. Samuel'said that Mr. Elliot seemed to advocate policy of general regulation of agricultural products in this and every other country. With such a policy the Government might as well withdraw from the World Conference, for, on those lines, its labours were bound to be futile. IMPORTS AND EXPORTS FIGURES FOR FOUR MONTHS. [ Britinh Official Wireleia. | Received May 11, 6 p.m. RUGBY, May 10. British imports during April totalled 251,151,000. Exports totalled £23,395,000. Re-exports, £,538,000. For the past four months imports totalled £210,072,000, against £246,960,000 last year. Exports for the past four months amounted to £116,116,000, against £127,113,000 in 1932. Re-exports reached £16,143.000, against £20,757,000.