BRITAIN'S TRADE OUTLOOK

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14765, 3 October 1921, Page 5

BRITAIN'S TRADE OUTLOOK

SLOWLY IMPROVING AMERICAN BANKERS' VIEWS. REVIVAL A LONG PROCESS. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Assn.) Received October 2, 5.5 pan. NEW YORK, October 1. The Australian Dress Association interviewed Mr Mark Sheldon, Australian Trade Commissioner, who arrived with his wife from Europe. lie said : "As far as I could observe, there is a realisation in Britain that both Capital and Labour are necessary for reviving trade upon les* inflated lines. The fall in the price of coal is gradually reviving, and many industries and works that have been closed for sonic time are 'opening again, especially in the iron and steel trades. The conditions of the wool market arc also better; there is a more hopeful tone in the Bradford wool market than there has been for a long time. Shipping is still in a had way. It is not so much a question of freight rates as the actual want, of business. Ship-build-ing in Britain, like the rest of the. world, is at a, standstill, and no new orders of any importance have been taken. "Concerning retail prices, I can say that during the last two or three weeks retailers have begun to show that they are facing the situation by evidence of a ffrcater'tendency to meet market conditions through lowering prices. Wholesale prices in a great many lines are considered to have reached bottom. The buying power of the British public is very much diminished; this is the result of unemployment, which was brought to a head by the. great coal strike and general depression of trade, which is only just beginning to lift. "The complete revival of trade will he a lone process. Unemployment is graduallydccreasing, but not as fast as could be desired. Public opinion in Britain is getting activ* for retrenchment and the curtailment of government expenditure, and this, with the question of unemployment, will in all likelihood have great domestic issues in Britain during the next eighteen months. "Although the dollar is at a premium in relation to sterling, the latter has so appreciated, relative to other European currencies, that it severely handicaps the export of British manufactured goods. In the last few weeks, however, there is a better tone in the export field, because-it is felt that foreign competition in most lines have gone to the limit in the way of low prices. There is one point in the readjustment of values throughout Europe which will have a very e#od influence, and will assist the controllers of currency in Ihc European nations who are anxious to deflate to begin to reduce llie paper issue. This will be a godsend lo Europe, ns less paper money and the' greater purchasing power of existing currencies will go a long way towards solving the present economic difficulties and restoring general confidence. "As lo what is the position of Australasian commodities on the Btitlsh markets, from observations I believe Britain will, as in the past, be a great market for Australasian products, and though at the present moment the British markets are well, or perhaps oversupplied, with such goods as meats, Ibis is really a temporary matter, resulting from the disposal of products that came under Government control."