§ Mr. DUCKWORTHasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he can, before the House rises, state exactly what is the present position of the Tariff Conference negotiations at Peking; what agreement has been reached up to the present; and what is the attitude of Great Britain with regard to the abolition of likin before the retrocession of tariff autonomy?
Mr. LOCKER-LAMPSONI will take this opportunity of stating what the present position at the conference is. The Powers represented at the conference have agreed in principle to the grant to China of tariff autonomy as from 1st January, 1929. The Chinese, for their part, have undertaken to abolish likin effectively by that date. It is understood that an article embodying the above provisions will be incorporated, together with other matters now under negotiation, in a treaty to be signed at the conference. Such a treaty would be subject to ratification. Other matters on which discussions are now proceeding are the rates of Customs surtaxes to be levied in the interim period before the enforcement of the Chinese tariff law, and the Chinese proposals for the abolition of likin out of the proceeds of such surtaxes.