Evening star., 1932-08-04
BRITAIN OFFERED
CANADIAN TRADE
Dominion Plan for Exchange
Would Take Valuable Mar
ket From u. S.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
OTTAWA, August 4.-Canada for
mally submitted a concrete offer of an
exchange in tariff preferences with
Great Britain today, proposing a wider
spread Of preference as between British
and foreign goods imported by the Do
minion.
The plan would mean perhaps as
much as 100000, 900 a year increase in
Canadian imports of British goods. In
return the Dominion asks Great Britain
to reciprocate In approximately the
same amount.
British goods covered by the Cana
dian offer includes iron and steel, an
thracite coal, automobiles, electrical
supplies brass products and certain lines
of textiles and leather goods.
Last year Canada imported O,oOO,-
900 worth of iron and steel. most OF 1t
from the United States and only 10
per cent of it from the United King
dom. In a normal year the iron and
steel imports run to S350,000, 1000.
Plan Received Cordially.
Canada asks new or increased prefer
ences on wheat, meats including bacon.
dairy products including butter and
cheese, fish, copper, nickel. zinc, lead,
cattle. vegetables and fruits.
Canada contends that the United
Kingdom can buy within the empire
much Of the volume Of these conmodi-
ties which she now takes from foreign
countries.
The offer was cordially received by
the British delegation. but no definite
proposals were made in return.
The hand OF Soviet Russia was seen
at the conference as reaching forth to
snatch New Zealand's market for oil
from the United States.
1t was reported that the Associated
Motorists Petroleum Co. Of New zea-
land, which heretofore has bought It's
gasoline, kerosene and lubricating oils
from the United States and from the
Netherland Indies, had obtained an ex-
elusive monopoly on the importation,
distribution and sale of these products
from Russia.
The Russian oil, the report said, is to
be sold in New Zealand at about cents
less a gallcn than the price now paid
for United States oil.
Australia and Great Britain continued
discussion of an agreement which would
divert much of AuStralia'S motor car
buying from the United States to Brit
tain return for British preferences on
fruits, butter, wines, grain ana dairy
products.
Steel Accord Reported.
These discussions gave rise to reports
that the recently reported steel accoro
between the United Kingdom and the
Dominion of Canada was being ex-
tended to Australia.
Various bi-lateral agreements In
process OF negotiation were seen as di'
rect threats to many important Amer
ican export products. including steel
textiles, oil, automobiles, fruits, farm
products and farm machinery.
The effect of all these proposed
agreements. however. even If they
should be made, might not be what the
makers intended. All of them woulc
have to be submitted to the parlia'
ments Of the participating countries
for approval. 1t was pointed out also
that the governments are not the buy
ers and the buyers might not responc
to the arrangements in many cases.
| Politics and personalities also en-
tered the picture today In the wake
of Premier Benefits implied demand
| for wheat preference and his denia
| of an open market to British textiles
The Evening Star, published In Lon
don under the same ownership as TN
Liberal News Chronicle, was quoted II
Ottawa papers as charging Bennett VIII
crude humor on serious matters" as
result Of his quipS with the press or
/ Tuesday. and as declaring he had play
ed the buffoon long enough