I move Financial Motion No. 8:—
(1) That a duty of customs at the rate of one shilling and sixpence the square yard shall be charged, levied, and paid on all woven tissues which are imported on or after such day as shall be appointed in that behalf by the Minister for Finance and are so imported in the piece and contain, in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, not less than forty per cent. by weight of silk and are of a value not exceeding one shilling and sixpence per square yard.
(2) That a duty of customs at the rate of eightpence the square yard shall be charged, levied, and paid on all woven tissues which are imported on or after such day as shall be appointed in that behalf by the Minister for Finance and are so imported in the piece and contain, in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, not less than forty per cent. by weight of artificial silk or of silk and artificial silk and are of a value not exceeding one shilling and threepence per square yard.
(3) The provisions of Section 8 of the Finance Act, 1919, shall apply to both the duties mentioned in this Resolution with the substitution of the expression "the area of application of the Acts of the Oireachtas" for the expression "Great Britain and Ireland" and as though the Second Schedule to that Act contained a list of goods which were, by way of preferential rate, to be admitted free of duty and articles chargeable with either of the said duties mentioned in this Resolution were included in that list.
The purpose of this Bill is to give effect to our part of the Trade Agreement, and various sections of the Bill, in a sense, are disconnected; they relate, not so much to one another as to the appropriate Articles of the Trade Agreement. The expression "United Kingdom" is defined as being the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man." Deputies will note, however, that the provisions of the Bill relate not merely to the United Kingdom but also to the Dominion of Canada. In 1932 we made an agreement with Canada which binds us to give to the produce of that country upon entry into this market the benefit of the lowest rate of duty applying to the produce of any other country. Canada was the only country with which an agreement of that character was made at Ottawa. An agreement was also made with South Africa, but it provided for specific preferences and not for a general preference of that kind. If it should be decided at a later date, as a result of another agreement, to confer similar treatment on the produce of some other country, then separate legislation would be required for that purpose. The Bill is expressed to come into operation on an appointed day which will be fixed by the Minister for Finance. That day will probably be at the end of next week, assuming that this group of Bills is enacted by the Oireachtas within that period and that the British Government are also in a position to complete their legislation before then, which is probable. Section 3 of the Bill implements Article 11, sub-section (2) of the Trade Agreement; that is to say, it imposes the agreed duties upon silk and artificial silk consigned from countries other than the United Kingdom.