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A Clear Statement of British Trade Policy.

8th February 1917
Page 11
Page 11, 8th February 1917 — A Clear Statement of British Trade Policy.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

The Association of British Motor and Allied Maimfacturers, Ltd., the offices of which body are at 1, Regent Street, i

London, S.W. has issued a memorandum in which its policy is publicly blicly disclosed.

It is contended, with ample proof behind the contention, that the circumstances which jeopardize the future of the British motor industry are in many instances unique, amongst other reasons for the following :— (1) Competition of second-hand Government vehicles on return from war service.

(2) Shortage of liquid assets owing to special war taxation.

(3) Enlargement of works, to meet Government requirements, thus aggravating the difficulty of disposing of full outputs after the war.

(4) Loss of goodwill, due to its having in part passed over to foreign competitors.

(5) Disregard of true British commercial interests by the British Consular Service.

(6) Inadequacy of British banking facilities.

The proposals of the Association, with the object of neutralizing the effects of the above-mentioned adverse factors, are briefly the following :— (1) Disposal of war-worn vehicles at a gradual rate, in co-operation with manufacturers and agents, after overhaul by their respective manufacturers.

(2) The imposition of temporary or permanent import duties on a minimum scale, with a preference to the Allied nations, such duties to operate for at least five years after the war.

(3) No "heavy" taxation of users, such as petrol tax' licence duties, or other methods, in order that the extent of the available markets shall not be diminished.

(4) Obligatory purchase of British-made or Colonial-made goods after the war by Government departments, municipalities, and public. bodies.

(5) A distinct difference to be made between goods which are genuinely of British manufacture and goods which are merely assembled on British territory, and suitable legislation to be adopted to prevent the misuse of the term "British," or-terms of similar significance. (6) The establishment of better relations between labour and capital, with severe penalties upon both Trade Unions and employers for any breaches of agreement, in conjunction with compulsory arbitration as a means of avoiding strikes or lockouts.

(7) The " dumping " of foreign goods to be

checked by the applieation of properly-regulated ad valorem duties.

(8) The complete re-organization of the British Consular Service to the end that it shall adequately serve British industry in all centres of the world, and the formation of a Department of Industry and Commerce under a Cabinet Minister.

(9) The formation of new banks for the specific purpose of fostering British industrial developments by the extension of credit and other facilities.

We cordially endorse the contents of the memorandum. It sets forth points with most of which we have dealt in the past. Home interests must be " protected " in the best and widest sense of the word, and we see nothing in the considered and moderate wording of the memorandum of the A.B.M.A.M. to which exception can possibly be taken by anybody who has the best interests of the Empire at heart.

We are particularly glad to observe that the Association is alive to the evil of nominal ad valorem duties. Its specific method of regulation is set forth in the following words :—" Any difference in the invoice value and 'Home consumption value should be.imposecl as a surtax." We should be inclined to favour the levying of such ad valorem duties on the sale prioe to the buyer in the country of origin, but detail is of less importance than principle.

It appears to us that the views of the A.B.M.A.M. are wholly consonant with the general trend of opinion of all manufacturers and producers in the United Kingdom. There can be no reversion to the pre-war conditions of apathy, or to mistaken notions of socalled " free" trade. On the other hand, from the point of view of the consumer, and here we refer to the user of commercial motors, the " protected " manufacturer must not abuse the position, once granted, for which he is now organizing. Should he prove in the future--and here we do not refer to the motor manufacturer alone, but to manufacturers at large—to be unduly greedy, nothing will stop a revulsion of public feeling, opinion and action.

As regards "heavy " taxation of commercial motors, everybody concerned is opposed to any taxation on a scale which justifies the use of the adjective. They are, or should be, even more strenuously opposed to the evil and wasteful course of local tolls. Taxation there must be, having regard to all circumstances and conditions, if motor transport is to develop as all of us wish-it should. The proceeds of such taxation must be recovered for road purposes, and we shall continue to 'contend for a division of such proceeds, half to go to improvement, and half to go to what we have frequently termed "extra maintenance."


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