The trade agreement involved many aspects, and even just the draft documents amounted to a thick stack.
It took the representatives of various countries all morning to briefly go through the content—this was after Austria had communicated the general framework of the agreement to them, otherwise, they would probably have to spend the entire day on this matter.
However, after everyone closely examined the clauses, they all revealed expressions of surprise, and then began to whisper among themselves:
“It says here that we can maintain a 60% tariff on wines imported from France and a 38% tariff on iron products from Austria, which seems… quite reasonable.”
“We can even levy an 80% tariff on French paper, which is different from what I had originally thought.”
“Aside from the tariffs on French textiles, which need to be consistent with England, other terms are not too oppressive…”
“One could even say… quite fair. Austria only charges a 10% tariff on most goods exported to Wurttemberg.”
“It’s the same for me, we can enter Austria and France with very low tariffs.”
Lunchtime came quickly.
On the way to the restaurant, Count Pomentar, the Bavarian State Minister, pulled aside a few representatives from the smaller countries and spoke in a low voice, “Although on the surface, the agreement terms proposed by Austria seem to benefit them more, however, our industries are nowhere near as competitive as those of France and Austria, especially France.
“For instance, the draft requires us to levy no more than a 12% tariff on French machinery and only 15% on chemical products, which seems highly disadvantageous to us.”
Count Wintzingerode, Wurttemberg’s plenipotentiary representative, nodded and looked at him, “So, what do you think we should do?”
“This trade agreement is a good opportunity,” Pomentar looked around at the others, “It gives our goods the chance to enter the vast markets of France and Austria, but we need to unite and bargain for more favorable conditions.
“Specifically, we must be united when discussing specific tariff amounts. Oh, of course, Bavaria will also make concessions to your countries, please rest assured.”
The other representatives, upon hearing this, nodded their heads in agreement. Indeed, as Pomentar said, according to the draft, the tariffs imposed on them by France and Austria were almost negligible, giving their goods the possibility of entering France and Austria, which was previously very difficult.
Therefore, the focus of the subsequent negotiations would be on the maximum tariffs they could levy on France and Austria. After all, these small countries could only rely on tariffs to protect their own markets when faced with the highly competitive goods from the large nations.
At two-thirty in the afternoon, the trade negotiations continued.
Count Wintzingerode of Wurttemberg was the first to stand, addressing the French Commerce Minister, “Respected Mr. Bailly, regarding the iron products that your country exports to Wurttemberg, I believe that a 12% tariff is indeed too low. You know, Wurttemberg has many iron foundries, and we need to provide them with some protection. Perhaps, the tariff on iron products could be raised to around 35%.”
Hearing this, the representatives of Bavaria and other countries immediately followed suit, “Bavaria hopes to raise the French steel tariff to 30%.”
“Salzburg also hopes to raise it to 30%…”
Mr. Bailly then stood up and said some platitudes, the gist of which was that France also valued the industrial protection of your countries, but did not budge an inch on the tariff rate.
Seeing the situation at a standstill, Count Wintzingerode was about to threaten to withdraw from the negotiations when he saw Mr. Bailly signaling to a young official behind him: “Mr. Buonaparte, please provide the trade data of iron products between France and Wurttemberg to Count Wintzingerode.”
“Yes, my lord,”
Joseph Buonaparte immediately flipped through several pages of documents, courteously placed them on the table in front of the Wurttemberg representative, and with considerate explanation said, “Count, as you can see, over the past 5 years, France’s exports of iron goods to Wurttemberg have averaged only one hundred and ten thousand livres per year. The average price is 16 sous per piece.
“At the same time, the average price of iron goods produced in Wurttemberg is only 14.8 sous. That is to say, French iron goods have almost no competitive edge in Wurttemberg.”
Before the advent of technological innovation, European countries’ iron smelting technologies were all at the same level. France, not rich in iron resources, held no advantage even over smaller nations.
Count Wintzingerode was suddenly stunned, having no concept of these detailed figures and truly clueless as to where the French people had gathered such statistics.
In fact, since Joseph had been preparing to expand into the German states market, he had dispatched people to investigate the industrial and trade situations of various countries, spending hundreds of thousands of livres on the effort.
Therefore, this draft trade agreement was by no means baseless; he was sure that every country could accept the tariff amounts listed.
In later generations, extensive commercial research would be conducted before engaging in trade negotiations. But in the 18th century, people still acted based on experience, totally unaware of this concept, which inevitably put them at a disadvantage in negotiations. Continue reading stories on empire
Joseph Buonaparte, with a smile, pointed to the next page, “As you can see, this is a survey of 200 residents of Wurttemberg, and only 7 people have indicated they are willing to purchase French iron goods. So, you really don’t need to worry about local iron foundries being threatened.”
Count Wintzingerode looked in astonishment at the survey questionnaires, which bore the signatures of the respondents and appeared unlikely to be fabricated.
At a loss for how to rebut, he could only sit down sullenly.
Subsequently, the Bavarians questioned the tariffs on French chemical products.
Mr. Bailly replicated the earlier approach, allowing the official responsible for Bavarian commercial research to plaster Count Pomentar’s face with exhaustive data, using ample evidence to prove that a 15% tariff was sufficient to protect their chemical industry.
Thus, the negotiations continued into the third day, with the French side speaking through data and corroborating with survey questionnaires, essentially ensuring that the tariffs on French goods underwent no major changes.
On the other hand, the Austrian side, after much persistence and pressure from several smaller nations, agreed to some substantial increases in their tariff rates.
It wasn’t until the fifth day of negotiations that Mr. Bailly, with a beaming smile, presented the “Inland Waterway Free Transport” clause…
Vienna.
Schonbrunn Palace.
Joseph II frowned at his brother and asked weakly, “Are you saying that there has been no confirmation of the marriage alliance from Paris?”
Leopold II nodded with a grim face, “Antoinette’s letter makes no mention of an engagement. Your Majesty, you know, Clementine even lived in Paris for a year, and for them to do this is an outright insult to the Habsburg Family!”
Joseph II was silent for a long while before letting out a long sigh, “It might be due to Clementine’s young age and her inability to bear children, which is why my sister made such a decision.”
The situation he mentioned was not without precedent. Even Louis XV had been betrothed to a Spanish princess, but because she was too young to bear children, she was ultimately sent back to Spain.