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OUR TRADE
WITH U.S.
Dr. Evatt's
Appeal
NEW YORK, Nov. 15 (A.A.P.) .
The Australian Minister for Ex
ternal Affairs (Dr. Evatt), in a
speech at a dinner given by the
National Foreign Trade , Council
last night, said Australia was
nnr mr ln rpsiinip .husmnss with thfc
world and .to do double the. pre
war trade with the United: States.
Dr. Evatt pointed out that Aus
tralia always imported morn
American goods than she could
pay for except in gold, and undev
the lend-lease transactions Aus
tralia had -at least come out
square, with the probability of a
balance favoring Australia,.
Dr. Evatt added:-— "We cannot
repeat .lend-lease-i.m peace (time..
The war .ended with Australia
possessing no- dollars. With- our
gold production almost at zero,
the large stocks of wool accumu
lated in Australia must be used
to. help balance trade accounts
with overseas countries. American
exporters want dollars, but not
wool, furthermore, such dollars
as we can. -earn in your markets
mustabe allocated to the Ameri
can products that we need the
most urgently.
. "Tile obstacles to Australla-
Amerlca 'trade are not entirely or
mninlv -obstacles of our creation,
but have been created largely by
i your customs duties. An example
i Is your duty of 34 cents per: lb.
on our raw wool. :
"I: can assure you that Aus
tralians desire to trade more
ireely with America, but how can
we buy from you if we cannot
sell to. you .? How shall we lid
ourselves of the rationing of dol
lars if we cannot earn more dol
lars ?
' Borrowing dollars is of course
one way that we might escape
Ihe dilemma, but the Australian
Government is against borrow
ing. abroad and against adding
to the external debt. If there is
a solution of this trade problem
to -which -we can contribute, we
hope to be able to find it. At the
moment part of- the answer lies
with the -United States. It is a
form of .' freedom we need-
freedom to earn your dollars un
til we can earn more here."
Empire Tariffs
Referring to Empire 'prefer
ences. Dr. Evatt said:— "Our
economy is geared to a set of pre
ferential tariff systems for exports
and for imports, and we cannot
scrap gears without stopping the
whole mnchine. In all these trade
problems Australia was hopefully -
anticipating a constructive and
impartial; lead from the United
Stales. We realise what the stakes
are. . We shall strain every nerve
lo nchleve the common objectives
of the. -United Nntions. We shall
play our part In peace as In war,
but one Important condition must
be satisfied. The condition is
simply that the United States
shall continue to be prosperous,
and Australia's willingness to fol
low your leadership in nny new
-international programme must-
be measured bv our confidence in
your ability to maintain that
prosperity."
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