Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 377

certain quotas for Palestinian products, and negotiations on the same lines are being made with Turkey. As against the problems of export which affect the future of Palestinian industries, the question of duties on imports into Palestine stands out acutely. Whilst no concessions or facilities have been obtained from foreign countries for Palestinian products, Palestine is flooded with foreign goods, frequently at dumping prices. Only initial steps have so far been taken by the Government to mitigate this state of affairs, while the development of industries demands a well-thought-out plan for the fixing of suitable protective tariffs against foreign competition. The danger of dumping foreign goods in Palestine comes not only from Japan but also from European countries. Some foreign goods are sold cheaper in Palestine than in the countries of production, and in many cases, thanks to the subsidies granted by their Governments for export purposes, even less than the cost of production. The Jewish Agency demanded that the Government should fix tariffs designed to facilitate the development of Palestinian industries in their initial stages, by the exemption of raw material from duty, and to protect Palestinian industries against the dumping of foreign goods. The permanent Government sub-committee for Trade and Industry is composed of nine members : four heads of Government Departments, two Jews and three Arabs (two Moslems and one Christian). The committee meets once every six weeks, and discusses commercial questions and Palestine customs. The Jewish representatives are Messrs. Hoofien, Managing Director of the Anglo-Palestine Bank, and I. Shapiro. (The members of this subcommittee resign in rotation at the expiration of three years, and the Jewish members are appointed by the Government in consultation with the Jewish Agency. Up to recently, Messrs. Hoofien and Tishby were the Jewish representatives on that committee.) Of positive resolutions passed by the committee, mention should be made of the fixing of protective duties on artificial and natural silk, on religious articles, and changes in the existing duties on furniture, etc. For the purpose of clarifying customs questions, the Jewish Agency Executive set up a special committee, and at the invitation of the Agency, Dr. A. Marcus prepared a comprehensive memorandum on the existing customs system in Palestine. The question of import duties is bound to be one of the main problems of the Jewish Agency. The Department devoted considerable time to the supply of information to inquirers both in Palestine and abroad. For this purpose the Department corresponded with the Central Information Bureau for Agriculture and Industry of the American Economic Committe in Tel-Aviv. The Department made efforts to establish official connections with this Information Bureau, but the proper form for such co-operation has not yet been found, though this Bureau was assisted materially by the Agency's Central Bureau for the settlement of German Jews. The question of supplying economic information direct by 377