Banno's Tongan

Trade

N.Z. New Law May Cause Transfer to Fiji

THE far-reaching disturbance of South Pacific oversea trade, caused by New Zealand’s new finance regulations, has upset the organisation of Banno Bro thers. a Japanese firm with considerable interests in Tonga.

Tonga’s limited trade is competed for by several firms. At Vavau, for instance, there are the stores of Burns Philp (S.S.) Co. Ltd., Morris Hedstrom Ltd., Brown Joske Ltd. (from Fiji, who re cently took over the store of the late T. L. Blatter), Lever Bros., and Banno Brothers. Five firms, therefore, are op erating where there is enough trade only for one or two.

Until recently, when Tonga put a heavy tariff on non-British goods, it was im possible for the European firms to com pete against the cheaply-produced goods imported from Japan by Banno Brothers.

The Japanese were steadily taking pos session of the Tongan retail trade. The new tariff checked the Japanese invas ion, however.

Banno Brothers had a warehouse in Auckland, N.Z.; goods arrived there from Japan in Japanese ships; and they were held there under bond and re-shipped to the Islands.

The N.Z. imports embargo has seri ously upset the operations of the Jap anese firm—to the relief of the Euro pean firms, which it consistently under sold.

It is now reported that the Banno headquarters, or distributing point, is be ing placed in Fiji. Fiji will not be as kind to the Japanese as Auckland or Tonga. Fiji does not like too much cheap, foreign trade, and operates a quota sys tem against it.