Manawatu Evening Standard. MONDAY, JUNE 28, 1937. INTERNATIONAL TRADE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 177, 28 June 1937, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. MONDAY, JUNE 28, 1937. INTERNATIONAL TRADE.

A restatement of Britain’s foreign trade policy was made by the President of the Board of Trade (Hon. Oliver Stanley), in reply to a question in the House of Commons. The Government naturally desires to see the nations again freely indulging in commerce, but tlie question is how best can this be done. Since world trade became depressed in 1930, and economic barriers were raised by many countries, Britain has successfully concluded bilateral pacts which have proved of inestimable value to British industries. This policy, according to Mr Stanley, is being pursued in every appropriate case, and he emphasised the important fact that the benefits under these agreements were generalised by reason of the most favoured nation clause. The question was raised in view of a desire expressed by the Imperial Conference for greater international trade. It is well known that a school of thought in Britain feels that t-lie present trade policy is not helpful to world advancement. A deputation which waited upon Earl Baldwin before he vacated the Prime Ministership urged the Government to co-operate in improving international economic relations by specifically enlisting agreement with the “Oslo” nations in forming a low tariff regional bloc. Earl Baldwin’s reply was that British policy is tied to bilateralism and not to regionalism. The Oslo policy is sponsored by the group of uations stretching from Belgium north to Norway. Their policy, in view of the impossibility of holding another world conference, at which the nations would initiate economic disarmament, is to gradually lower the tariffs among themselves, a plan which is exclusive to their own particular region. Great Britain, as a commentator points out in commenting upon her trade policy, treats every country separately with exclusive agreements. The agreement with Poland is cited. It provides that a certain quota of British goods must be purchased by Poland in return for British purchases in that country. The same is also true of the Danish agrement. The pact with Argentina is of another type of particular agreement. In view of the vast amount of British purchases in the Southern American republic, Argentine interests have pledged that British creditors shall have first call on the British money that the Argentine earns on those sales. The policy of the United States may be contrasted with Britain’s. It is in the direction of multilateral trade, though the agreements are really bilateral. Its essence is that tariff reductions between the United States and another nation

are generalised to all nations. The American Administration, in fact, now realises that extreme tariffs, of which America has chiefly been guilty, are a severe hindrance to world trade, and is seeking in its own way to lower them. Britain, however, sees no reason to alter her policy, and who can say that she is not well advised ? Certainly, while world trade has expanded somewhat, there is no evidence as yet that the drawbacks of extreme economic nationalism are being removed. At the present time the Prime Minister of Belgium (M. Van Zeeland) is in the United States in pursuance of his mission to investigate the possibilities of freer trade. He has undertaken this at the request of the British and French Governments. London, Paris, and Berlin were visited by M. Van Zeeland, and now he is engaged in conversations with the American Administration. It has been made clear in Britain that the Belgian Premier is not trying to prepare the way for a world conference, and undoubtedly, when the results of his mission have been estimated, the nations will the more fully realise what the opportunities are for economic disarmament.