304
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
Iron and steel and manufactures
10,749
27,180
16,431
7,687
23,111
15,424
398
and semi-manufactured goods, e.g., coal and irou, which come chiefly from the United States, and have greatly risen in value in the last two or three years of the
series.
(13.) We should not expect to find any material effect exerted by the preferential tariff in the case of heavy and bulky goods in which freight bears a high proportion to total value, and it is precisely in these classes of goods in which the main increase of Canadian imports has recently taken place. It is also in these classes of goods, e.g., coal, grain, raw cotton, timber, iron and steel, and heavy manufactures thereof, such as bridges, girders, rails, engines, &c., that the United States, by geographical contiguity, as well as by wealth of natural resources, is to a large extent beyond reach of any competition from the United Kingdom in the Canadian market, even if aided by a much greater preference than that now accorded.*
(14.) The following figures show to what a great extent the recent expansion of Canadian import trade is accounted for by goods of this kind, and also the large share of these imports which are derived from the United States.
Articles.
1896-7.
Imports for Home Consumption (Dutiable and Free Goods).
From all sources.
From United States.
1900-1.
Increase.
1896-7.
1900-1.
Increase.
399
Of course, if dutiable articles only be considered, the above figures are materially altered, the ad valorem equivalents being for imports from United Kingdom 25, for half those from United States 25, and for all imports of dutiable articles 271. Over half the imports from United States into Canada are free of duty.]
(16.) In these circumstances we should not expect to find that the total imports from this country, consisting as they do largely of manufactured articles subject to high protective duties (alboit these duties are less by one-third than the duties on similar articles imported from foreign countries) would expand so fast as the total imports from foreign countries, and especially from the United States, which consist to a much greater extent of free, or lightly taxed, raw materials and semi-manu- factured articles. If, then, we would determine how far the preferential tariff has benefited British trade, we should turn from comparisons of total trade and examine the statistics of imports into Canada of particular groups of manufactured articles, selecting those whose value is fairly high compared with their weight, and in which the preference accorded by the tariff to British goods amounts to a substantial advantage. Such articles are textile fabrics and yarns, which formed last year over two-thirds of the total British exports to Canada subject to the preferential tariff, viz., over three and a half millions out of 5,323,COOL.
(17.) The following table shows for the years ending June 30th, 1893, 1897, and 1901, the value of imports of the principal textile manufactures and yarns subject to duty from the United Kingdom and from all countries respectively. It will be remembered that the year ending June 1897 was the last year before the preferential tariff, and indeed included two months during which the reduction of one-eighth under the first reciprocal" tariff was in force :-
Imports for Home Consumption-Datiable Goods only.
thereof.
Other metals
and manufactures
4,025
6,921
2,896
2,369
4,046
1,677
From United Kingdom.
From all Sources.
thereof.
Coal and coke
9,277
13,836
4,559
9,189
13,695
4,556
Grain and breadstuffs
1,896
8,070
6,174
1,637
7,433
5,796
Textile Manufactures.
Meat, dairy produce, and fruit
2,975
6,219
3,244
2,044
4,691
2,647
Wood and manufactures thereof
3,000
4,937
1,937
2,845
4,710
1,865
Raw cotton
3,118
4,774
1,656
3,098
4,732
1,634
1892-3. 1896-7. 1900-1.
$000. $000. $000.
Increase 1900-1 compared with 1896-7.
1892-8. 1896-7.
$000. $000,
1900-1.
$000.
Increase 1900-1 compared with 1896-7.
Amount. Per Cent.
Amount. Per Cent.
PUB RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TELI C.O. 885
וווווווד
Total of above classes of ƒ £'000
articles.
36,040
71,937
36,897
28,819
62,418
33,599
£000
7,200
14,782
7,582
12,826 5,922
6,904
Cotton -
From this table it will be seen that the above groups of articles account for nearly eight millions of the 14 millions by which the total Canadian imports have increased between 1896-97 and 1900-01, and for seven millions out of the ten millions by which the imports from the United States have increased.
(15.) It must also be remembered in considering the figures that Canadian policy remains protectionist in spite of the preference to British goods, and that the Canadian tariff as a rule discourages the importation of manufactured goods more than that of raw materials. Although, therefore, British goods enjoy a preference compared with the same goods imported from other countries, the average ad valorem rate of duty on British imports taken as a whole is still higher than the average duty levied on all imports, and much higher than the average duty levied on imports from the United States.
The following figures for 1900--01 bring out this fact.
Imports from United Kingdom
United States
"
All Imports
Customs Duty
Value of Imports.
Collected.
Ad valorem Equivalent.
£
£
Per Cent.
8,839,000
22,702,000
37,241,000
1,812,000
2,735,000
18
12
5,981,000
16
• For example, the preference in the case of bituminous coal would only amount to about 10d. per ton, and in the case of pig iron to less than 4s. par tos, both small amounts compared with cost of freight.
Flax, hemp, and jute - Carpets, curtains, and
oilcloth.
Total -
* Including a considerable proportion of silk goods of foreign manufacture imported from the United Kingdom.
(18.) An examination of this table shows that the value of imports of textiles into Canada greatly diminished in the period immediately preceding the adoption of the preferential tariff, the decrease being partly due to the fall of prices in those years of depressed trade, and partly to a diminution in the volume of trade.
The proportionate diminution between 1892-93 and 1896-97 was 27 per cent. Since that year, with the revival of trade and the increase of prices, the value of the total imports of textiles has risen no less than 571 per cent.
(19.) In the case of British textiles the drop between 1892-93 and 1896-97 was sharper, amounting to no less than 36 per cent. The recovery since 1896-7 bas been at about the same rate as that stated above for the imports from all sources, i.e., 57 per cent.
(20.) If, then, we considered merely the growth of imports of textiles and yarns since 1896-97, there would not be much to indicate that the preferential tariff had stimulated British trade. If, however, the greater rate of decline of British trade during the 3 L 4
Wool
3,481
9,6-16
Silk
•
2,693
5,577 8,061
2,239* 1,396 2,107*
1,747 1,581 1,159
545 389 863
4,880
2,187
2,484
711
588
122 474
ཚ ༷ ཚ་ སྨྲ
4,569
10,947
2,764
727
71 2,877 6,928 4,051
40 2,818 7,126 9,944
87 1,738 3,726 1,088
649 1,013 1,619 1,264
587 1,147 560
bo
51
95
6,444 3000 17,44211,214 | 17,658
3,584 2,304 3,628 1,324 £000
57
20,626 15,016|23,658
4,861 1,776 4,238 8,085
8,642
58
8
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