Abstract
THE creation of a Tariff Commission, or, as it is called, Import Duties Advisory Committee, as part of the Government's general tariff plan has implications which go far beyond the theoretical merits of ‘free trade’ or ‘protection’, and are of special interest to scientific workers. As Capt. Harold Macmillan, M.P., points out in recent articles (cf. Week-End Review, Jan. 30, and Sunday Times, Feb. 14), Britain suffers particularly from the chaotic market conditions which affect all countries, because not only is a large proportion of its production for export, but also because alone among nations it has a home market open to unrestricted competition. In the absence of any protective device, British economic development is being determined not by our own decisions but by the fluctuating disorder of world trade. The old fiscal controversy having now been resolved in principle by the Government decision to apply tariffs to a wide range of manufactures, the question of practice and of the purpose for which tariffs are to be applied becomes of primary importance. It is clear that both ministers and other members of Parliament are now prepared to consider the economic and financial aspects of a tariff policy in relation to the reorganisation, modernisation, and readjustment of industry as part of a definite plan of national and imperial policy. The execution of any such constructive policy, involving the application of scientific methods in this difficult and contentious field, requires a wealth of detailed information regarding the relations between different industries, their productive capacity, efficiency, their importance in the general national economy, the merits of their plans of reconstruction, and so forth.
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Tariff Commission and a Scientific Policy. Nature 129, 271 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/129271a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/129271a0