Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-05
NEW TARIFF RULE
MAY Be MODIFIED
American Publishers Object
to Some Provisions of Cana
dian Customs Law.
BY LOUIS Z. VAN NORMAN.

Postponement from July to August
Is of the date upon which the new
Canadian tariff rate becomes applicable
to imported magazines and other peri
odicals will give American publishers q
chance to convince the authorities At
Ottawa that they actually do come in
the exempt" class.
In one of his public speeches on the
budget, Premier Bennett Of Canada de-
clared that free entry will be permitted
to all foreign publications OF def
nitely educational, religious and scien-
tific character" He also stated That
this classification will include agricul-
tural, business and professional papers.
There may also be other exemptions.
The list has not yet been published.
Enjoy Wide Popularity.
For the last few years American
monthly, weekly and daily periodicals
have been entering Canada in great
numbers and enjoying wide popularity
in that country. Among Canadian and
British publications, however. there has
been evidently q growing dissatisfaction
at this popularity Of the American Pc
riodical press. This has arisen not only
from o natural desire to secure the
patronage Of Canadian readers for pub
locations brought out in Great Britain
or her dominions, but also because OF
the overwhelming influence of these
American periodicals in fostering Amer
lean trade at the expense, 1t is claimed,
of British and Canadian merchants.
The advertisements in the American
periodicals are insistently calling atten-
fy,1A M
customs and the eXcellencies Of Amer
ican products. This-perhaps naturally
enough-haS been accountable for at
least part of the sentiment, openly ex-
pressed, which has finally resulted in
the imposition of a duty of Is cents
pound on foreign periodicals entering
the dominion. The pre-eminence OF
American publications Is such that
Americans are practically the only non
Canadians affected, at least to so great
an extent.
The questions that just now interest
American magazine publishers are: How
is this new duty to be applied? Who Is
to pay it?
It is understood that certain amount
of discretion will be permitted to the
Canadian customs inspectors. Such
power Of discrimination, OF course, Will
amount to q censorship. There have
been reports that certain American
publications have been regarded as
highly undesirable in Canada from the
nature of their contents. These could
be excluded under the provisions OF the
new rate without any undue publicity
as to the reasons for exclusion.
Payment Of Increase.
The question of payment Of the in
crease in rate is even more important.
If paid by the publishers, 1t will mean
q prohibitive cost Of production. II
paid by an increase In subscription
rates to the subscribers, 1t will result
in q loss of circulation. This will Sc
riously affect American advertising.
which has always claimed Canada as
In its field.
There have already been q number
of conferences between Premier Bennett
and various American publishers, large
ly under the leadership Of the National
Publishers Association. If the new
rate should actually become effective
on August Is, without any elasticity or
other mitigating circumstances, 1t will
no doubt mean a greatly curtailed cir
culation for American magazines in
Canada. It looks now as though there
might be considerable readjustment be-
fore the new tariff rate gets into smooth
working order.
(Copyright, 1870.