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This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
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CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[January 30.]
SECTION 2. C. O.
5521
[3413]
No. 1.
REC
Board of Trade to Foreign Office,~~~(Received January 30.)
Board of Trade, January 29, 1907.
REG 13 FEB 07)
Sir,
I AM directed by the Board of Trade to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 4th instant, transmitting copy of a despatch from His Majesty's Minister at Peking, with inclosures, relative to a proposal on the part of the local authorities at Hankow to levy a cess upon goods in Chinese hands within the port area which are destined for export and are not protected by a transit pass.
With reference thereto, I am to say that, in the opinion of the Board, the admission that an educational or other cess was properly leviable on such goods would give rise to continual trouble, and might well prove a serious hindrance to trade. It may be difficult in particular instances to determine definitely whether the goods are or are not in fact the property of British subjects, but the Board fully concur in Sir J. Jordan's objection to sanction a proposal which would render bona fide British-owned exports in a Treaty port liable to local levies.
[2324 gy-2]
T
am, &c.
(Signed)
ARTHUR WILSON FOX.
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