Merchants' Protest Against the Proposed Increase in Duty The Greater Shanghai Chinese General Chamber of Commerce is reported by the Chinese press to have addressed, on behalf of the Chinese Dried "Beg Product Merchants Association, another tel gram to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, demanding that strong representations should be made to the Government against the prosed increase in the U.S, import jury on China's dried egg products.
According to the telegram, the US. Department of Agriculture is proposing, to increase the import linty on China's dried egg products from 18 to 27 cents a Ib, and this report "has been confirmed by the *North-China Daily News" and also telegrams received locally. from Chinese merchants. in America.
As the value of China's dried oxg products is only about 20 cents and as the product cannot be nder the heading of "luxury it Ts, surprising to learn that Government, which has ally imposed an import duty of nearly 100. per jh pro nets, should con! exeaso of over 50 per same goods, the writers say. The iment is apparently into institute a boycott exe products with a, view fo protecting its domente trade, Dut, as the boycott of China's products is tantamount to a vi Tion of the American commercial treaty with China, it has apparently contemplated this' excessive duty on China's egg products so as to make it impossible for Chinese merchants to export such goods to the United States.
Continuing, the telegram says that China's egg product export trade has in the past been an im: portant one and, should the" U. Government's proposed increase duty come in force, the Chinese merchants engaged in this trade will have no alternative but to close down their factories and thousands fof persons dependent upon this in-Gustry willie thrown out of ployment. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is, therefore, earnestly. {quested to order the Chinese Minis-Yer in Washington to lodge a strong protest with the U.S. Government in this respect and to request the 'Washington Government not only to cancel the proposed increase in duty, but also to reduce the original uty' on China's ogle products. the: telegram says igh tari? walls of the gri countries is chiefly responsible for the, present depress ed state of trade find that, should the U.S. Government wish to alleviate its unemployment situation, twill have to depend on the Chinese market for the distribution of its, surplus products. The cancel-Tation of the, proposed increase in duty or China's egg products, there. Tore, will not only benefit the Chinese muichants, but the United States as well
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.