609
Tariff.
Her Majesty's Government having carefully con-
sidered the contents of Your Excellency's Note above
referred to, have instructed me to present the fol-
lowing observations to His Majesty's Government.
Her Majesty's Government are of opinion that,
Your Excellency's Note does not meet the point
raised in my Note of the 14th October.
It appears
to them that under Article VI of the Treaty between
Great Britain and Japan an export duty cannot be
levied on Tea exported from a Japanese port to a
foreign country enjoying Treaty rights with Japan
unless the same duty is levied on the same product
when exported to all other foreign destinations.
It seems that at present Tea exported from Formosa
to the United States via Kobe escapes the duty to
which Tee exported fran Formosa to the United King-
dom and elsewhere viâ Amoy or HongKong is sub-
ject. Her Majesty's Government consider that they
have cause to protest against this inequality of
treatment.
They cannot accept what they understand
to be the contention of the Imperial Japanese Gov-
ernment that the tea exported to the United States
viê Kobe ie sent coastwise from Formosa to a Japan-
ese port and is thence exported to the United States
free of duty, because there is no export tariff in
Japan proper Her Majesty's Government are of
opinion that transhipment at Kobe cannot alter the
real character of the trade which is undoubtedly exportation from Formosa to a destination not in
Japan but in a foreign country.
In these circumstances they consider that they
have good ground for sustaining their protest, and they trust that the Japenese Government recognizing the justice of their view, will take steps to re-
medy the existing inequality of treatment.
I take, &c.,
(Signed)
Ernest Satow.
treatment.