Directory_and_Chronicle_1910 — Page 48

THE BRITISH COMMERCIAL TREATY WITH CHINA

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destination, impedes the free circulation of commodities and injures the interests of trade, hereby undertake to discard completely those means of raising revenue with the limitation mentioned in Section 8.

The British Government, in return, consent to allow a surtax, in excess of the Tariff rates for the time being in force to be imposed on foreign goods imported by British subjects and a surtax in addition to the export duty on Chinese produce destined for export abroad or coastwise.

It is clearly understood that after lekin barriers and other stations for taxing goods in transit have been removed, no attempt shall be made to revive them in any form or under any pretext whatsoever; that in no case shall the surtax on foreign imports exceed the equivalent of one and a half times the import duty leviable in terms of the Final Protocol signed by China and the Powers on the 7th day of Sep- tember, 1901; that payment of the import duty and surtax shall secure for foreign imports, whether in the hands of Chinese or non-Chinese subjects, in original packages or otherwise, complete immunity from all other taxation, examination or delay; that the total amount of taxation leviable on native produce for export abroad shall, under no circumstances, exceed 7 per cent. ad valorem.

Keeping these fundamental principles steadily in view, Parties have agreed upon the following methods of procedure.

the High Contracting

Section 1.-The Chinese Government undertake that all barriers of whatsoever kind, collecting lekin or such like dues or duties, shall be permanently abolished on all roads, railways, and waterways in the Eighteen Provinces of China and the Three Eastern Provinces. This provision does not apply to the Native Custom-houses at present in existence on the seaboard or waterways, at Open Ports, on land routes, and on land frontiers of China.

Section 2.-The British Government agree that foreign goods on importation, in addition to the effective 5 per cent. import duty as provided for in the Protocol of 1901, shall pay a special surtax equivalent to one and a half times the said duty to com- pensate for the abolition of lekin, of transit dues in lieu of lekin, and of all other taxation on foreign goods, and in consideration of the other reforms provided for in this Article; but this provision shall not impair the right of China to tax salt, native opium and native produce as provided for in Sections 3, 5, 6 and 8.

The same amount of surtax shall be levied on goods imported into the Eighteen Provinces of China and the Three Eastern Provinces across the land frontiers as on goods entering China by sea.

Section 3.-All Native Custom-houses now existing, whether at the Open Ports, on the seaboard, on rivers, inland waterways, land routes or land frontiers, as enumerated in the Hu Pu and Kung Pu Tse Li (Regulations of the Boards of Revenue and Works) and Ta Ch'ing Hui Tien (Dynastic Institutes), may remain; a list of the same, with their location, shall be furnished to the British Government, for purposes. of record.

Wherever there are Imperial Maritime Custom-houses, or wherever such may be hereafter placed, Native Custom-houses may be also established; as well as at any points either on the seaboard or land frontiers.

The location of Native Custom-houses in the Interior may be changed as the circumstances of trade seem to require, but any change must be communicated to the British Government, so that the list may be corrected; the originally stated number of them shall not, however, be exceeded.

Goods carried by junks or sailing-vessels trading to or from Open Ports shall not pay lower duties than the combined duties and surtax on similar cargo carried by

steamers.

Native produce, when transported from one place to another in the Interior, shall, on arrival at the first Native Custom-house, after leaving the place of production, pay duty equivalent to the export surtax mentioned in Section 7.

When this duty has been paid, a certificate shall be given which shall describe the nature of the goods, weight, number of packages, etc., amount of duty paid and intended destination. This certificate, which shall be valid for a fixed period of not