Tariff Changes and Vested Interests Last week the Federation of
British Industries forwarded to the Prime Minister a deplorable statement on the proposed Anglo-American trade treaty. It is a warning of the opposi- tion which will be offered to the treaty by powerful interests in this country, and an ill-conceived attempt to induce the Government and public opinion to adopt an attitude which could only wreck all prospects of reaching an agreement. The Federation's views are clearly expressed by three of the assertions to which it is committed. Firstly, no reduction or even stabilisation of British tariffs is acceptable at this moment ; secondly, British industry will not be satisfied with any agreement which cannot be modified or terminated at short • notice ; thirdly, any agreement with the United States must be preceded by a reduction in the American tariff. These assertions mean, on the one hand, that British industry must be assured that the British tariff is inflexibly fixed at a level not lower than the present, and, on the other, that any agreement with America must be capable of being modified at will—whether the will of either side is not quite clear. If the Government were swayed by such representa- tions as these all hope of reaching an agreement whose political importance promises to be even greater than its economic might be abandoned forthwith.
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