Dunning Retaliates?

In Canada as in Great Britain tariff changes go into effect the day after they are announced by the responsible minister, but subject to confirmation by Parliament plus Royal assent. If these are not forthcoming a most awkward series of rebates and payments has to ensue between the state and people who have imported goods meanwhile, but such is the law. At Ottawa last week Finance Minister Charles Avery Dunning raised a terrific commotion in the Dominion Parliament by bringing in a budget the chief feature of which was 500 tariff changes, the whole so controversial that it seems likely to be much modified before being voted and submitted for the rubber stamp of Royalty. In a fiery speech against the bill Leader Richard Bedford Bennett of the Conservative opposition accused Mr. Dunning of attempting reprisals against the new U. S. tariff (TIME, March 31), and thereby endangering international friendly relations. After a brief, preliminary survey of the voluminous measure, experts guessed that, whereas the tariff passed by Congress is expected to cut $80,000,000 from Canadian sales in the U. S. next year, Mr. Dunning's tariff may be expected to curtail U. S. sales in Canada by some $110,000,000.

A second, vital feature of Mr. Dunning's budget is to broaden greatly the list of goods on which Canada extends to the mother country what is called "Imperial Preference." A double-barreled example is agricultural machinery. If shipped from the U. S. it will have to pay from 6 to 20% duties under the Dunning budget, but if shipped from Britain it will enter Canada free by "Imperial Preference."

As his opening salvo in what is bound to be a long, acrimonious booming of political big guns, the Finance Minister mildly said: "This budget is frankly framed to enable us to buy more freely from those countries which buy from us most freely. . . . I speak in no spirit of retaliation. I would much rather extend lower tariff favors to those who extend them to us."

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