The French Agreement The Anglo-French trading agreement does not remove
the 15 per cent. surtax which France put on imports from Great Britain, following the departure of the pound from the gold standard. But it does remove. the 20 per cent. surtax on certain imports from France, which was the British reprisal, and the specially unfavourable quotas, which were the French counter-reprisal. The observer, who concludes that France has got rather the better of the bargain, is probably right ; though the advantage to us of reopening trade may well outweigh moderate inequalities. Any exchange of tariff preferences was, of course, barred, as in our other recent trading agreements, by the most-favoured-nation clause ; and consequently the only British export to benefit very specifically will once more be coal. The French gain under several heads, but chiefly in regard to silk and artificial silk, brandy and sparkling wines. The revision of our silk duties will cost anything from £2k millions to £8 millions a year ; and as no provision is made to meet it, the Budget will be to that extent unbalanced.
It might seem rather a big price to pay out of.pocket for a not very fruitful agreement. But the Government has been influenced by. evidence that the silk duties on their old scale were injuring important British interests as well as French.* -
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