About seven per cent, of this was shipped direct 

 to England and three per cent, went to Italy, 

 Japan, France, and other countries. Only about 

 one per cent, was retained in Canada for manu- 

 facture. The remainder, as has been noted, went 

 in its raw state to the United States. It is signi- 

 ficant that a proportion of the shipment to the 

 United States went to the South American trade, 

 by which transaction Canada must obviously 

 have been a direct loser. In 1914 the amount of 

 manufactured asbestos products imported into 

 Canada was valued at $467,160, and this had, 

 by 1920, increased to $812,042. In the same 

 period manufactured asbestos goods exported 

 from Canada grew from $98,274 lo $232,316, 

 which indicates an expansion of some magnitude 

 in the industry. The value of asbestos produced 

 in 1920 was over $14,000,000; it has been esti- 

 mated that if this worth of raw materials had 

 been fabricated in Canada, its value to the coun- 

 try would have approximated $104,000,000. 

 In Canada there is an awakening to the 

 fact that considerable revenue and industrial 

 development and employment is being lost to 

 the Dominion through this heavy export of 

 raw asbestos, and the failure to take advantage 

 of manufacturing at home both for domestic 

 consumption and the export trade; there has 

 been, however, some endeavor to extend the 

 Canadian industry of the manufacture of asbes- 

 tos products. 



Additional Manufacturing Plant* 



Previously there was only a single plant, at 

 Lachine, Quebec, where asbestos slating, shingles, 

 sheeting, mill board, paper, corrugated asbesto 

 sheets, and air-cell pipe coverings were made. 

 The production of the plant was for both local 

 and export trade, consisting in the main of 

 asbestos boards. A new development, however, 

 is the construction of a large manufacturing 

 plant at Asbestos, Quebec, where for the first 

 time in Canada asbestos products on a large 

 scale will be produced. The products will in- 

 clude asbestos textiles, brake lining, asbestos 

 shingles, paper, roofing, pipe coverings, etc. 

 Another industry manufacturing asbestos pro- 

 ducts has been located at East Broughton. This, 

 it is hoped, will mean the beginning on a larger 

 scale to the industry of asbestos manufacturing in 

 Canada. In 1920 Canada exported to the United 

 Kingdom, United States, Australia, France, 

 Italy, Japan, Spain and other countries, 152,740 

 tons of crude asbestos worth $11,521,536. 



In the Province of Quebec, where the prin- 

 cipal asbestos deposits are located, excellent 

 opportunities to build up a home industry in the 

 manufacture of asbestos products exist. Not 

 only asbestos but also the other important, re- 

 fractory, non-conductive material, magnesite, 

 is found in the same vicinity. These deposits lie 

 in close proximity to each other and to the most 

 densely populated areas of the province, from 



which abundant and cheap labor can be secured 

 as well as an assurance of expanding home mar- 

 kets. The other essential manufacturing condi- 

 tion, power, is abundantly provided from the 

 vast resources of water power, developed and 

 undeveloped, which ensure cheap hydro-electric 

 power to all industries. 



Until Canada can effect this and see her own 

 plants rise to the exclusion of her present volume 

 of imports, she will continue to lose a considerable 

 revenue in two directions, whilst a continuation 

 of the support of the industries of other countries 

 means the stifled growth of her own. With a 

 virtual world monoply of the supply of asbestos 

 she should, in all justice, have the same exclusive 

 possession in manufacture from them, and this 

 time and capital will bring about. 



Canada's Preferential Tariffs 



One of the principal inducements Canada holds out to 

 United States and other loreign manufacturers to settle 

 in Canada or establish branch factories in the Dominion, 

 is the extent of preferential tariffs she enjoys with coun- 

 tries within the British Empire and with other countries as 

 constituting one of the nations of that Empire, which advan- 

 tages are open to the manufacturer, resident in Canada, 

 whilst trading from the Dominion with those countries. 

 Special developments in this line have marked Canadian 

 commercial relations in the past two years and the whole 

 question is the subject of an article by the Chief of Foreign 

 Tariffs Division of the Government, Commercial Intelli- 

 gence Branch. 



United Kingdom 



Great Britain had already been giving a tariff preference 

 on nearly all her dutiable imports, but in November, 1921, 

 under the Safeguarding of Industries Act, further duties 

 were imposed on certain foreign goods whilst exempting 

 Empire products. The new duties affect principally chem- 

 icals, optical instruments, scientific glassware, laboratory 

 porcelain, balances and measuring instrumentsof precision, 

 ignition magnetos, arc lairp carbons, wireless valves, and 

 similar rectifiers. 



In the regular tariffs of the United Kingdom the goods 

 subject to ad valorem duty are clocks, watches, motor cars, 

 musical instruments, and accessory parts of any of these 

 articles, except rubber tires, which are free of duty. On 

 these goods and on certain wines and cinematograph films, 

 a preferential tariff, one-third lower than the rates leviable 

 on goods of foreign origin, is in effect. The general ad 

 valorem tariff, applicable to foreign countries, is 33^ per 

 cent., so that the rate to Canada and other parts of the 

 Empire is 22 2/9 per cent. 



British West Indies 



The West Indian colonies, which ratified the Canada- 

 West Indies trade agreement in 1920, have one by one 

 adopted new customs ordinances granting tariff preferences 

 to imports from Canada and other parts of the Empire. 

 Thirteen of these colonies have now the new preferential 

 tariffs in operation. The reductions specified for the 

 several colonies were to be not less than the following: 

 Bahama Islands, lOp.c.; Barbados, SO p.c.; Bermuda, 25 

 p.c. British Guiana, 50 p.c.; British Honduras, 33 \i p.c.; 

 Jamaica, 25 p.c. ; Leeward Islands, 33 \^ p.c.; Trinidad, 

 50 p.c.; Windward Islands, 33 \i p.c. All the colonies 

 have approved the pact and have the preference in 

 operation with the exception of Honduras. 



