In the past, when we practised
free trade, we could defend ourselves by saying that the policy we
forced upon China was the same as that which we adopted ourselves. But
no other nation could make this excuse, nor can we now that we have
abandoned free trade by the Safeguarding of Industries Act.
The import tariff being so low, the Chinese Government is compelled, for
the sake of revenue, to charge the maximum of 5 per cent, on all
exports. This, of course, hinders the development of Chinese commerce,
and is probably a mistake. But the need of sources of revenue is
desperate, and it is not surprising that the Chinese authorities should
consider the tax indispensable.
There is also another system in China, chiefly inherited from the time
of the Taiping rebellion, namely the erection of internal customs
barriers at various important points. This plan is still adopted with
the internal trade. But merchants dealing with the interior and sending
goods to or from a Treaty Port can escape internal customs by the
payment of half the duty charged under the external tariff. As this is
generally less than the internal tariff charges, this provision favours
foreign produce at the expense of that of China. Of course the system of
internal customs is bad, but it is traditional, and is defended on the
ground that revenue is indispensable. China offered to abolish internal
customs in return for certain uniform increases in the import and export
tariff, and Great Britain, Japan, and the United States consented.
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