BRITISH TRADE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 123, 27 May 1938, Page 7

BRITISH TRADE

ADVERSE BALANCE WITH UNITED STATES. FOREIGN ACCESS TO MARKETS . IN UNITED KINGDOM. [ British Official Wirelaai.l RUGBY, May 25. In the House of Commons, the President of the Board of Trade, Mr. Oliver Stanley, in reference to the Anglo-American trade negotiations and the position of the cotton industry, said that a striking fact was that the whole of the increased adverse balance of trade in the first four months of the year was covered by an increased adverse balance with one country—the United States. Such figures were disquieting and would have to be taken into account in the negotiations which were proceeding with the United States. The Minister said he had already told the House on several occasions the great importance the Government attached to a successful outcome of the trade negotiations between Britain and the United States. "What I mean by a successful outcome,” he continued, "is a genuine trade agreement which does provide for the fair expansion of trade on the part of both countries. The treaty, when it comes must be one that will stand on its own legs, be fair to both countries, and lead to the expansion of trade between them.” Trade With India. Mr. Stanley also mentioned negotiations for a trade agreement with India and arinounced that preliminary negotiations between a delegation from the Lancashire cotton industry and e,'.i unofficial adviser in India had broken down. He could not see how it was possible to conclude a trade agreement with India unless they found a satisfactory settlement of the cotton question. In conclusion. Mr. Stanley gave a warning to foreign countries that, much as the Government might desire to give them, so far as was compatible with fairness to British manufacturers, access to the great United Kingdom consuming market, they could not any longer afford to make unilateral gestures of goodwill in trade matters. They believed in the policy of bilateral trade negotiations which they had carried on during the year, but to a large extent the amount of access to the Home markets given foreign countries depended not only on the British Government but on the foreign governments and on how much access to their markets they were willing to give to British exports. International trade was vital to Britain, and in any agreement with other countries the Government must be sure of equal treatment and fair play for British goods.