BRITAIN LEADS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 956, 26 April 1930, Page 13

BRITAIN LEADS

LARGEST SHARE OF WORLD TRADE RECENT EXPANSION Striking statistics issued by the Imperial Economic Committee—a body composed of representatives of the United Kingdom, the Dominions, India, the colonies, and the protectorates—convey a rosier picture of the British Empire’s place in the race for world trade than pessimists would have us believe. At the present time,” the committee states in a White Paper, which covers the period 1913-1928, “the external trade of the British Empire, even excluding inter-imperial transactions, exceeds that of any other large such as the United States or Continental Europe. ‘•Between 1913 and 1927,” the White Paper proceeds, “the trade of the Empire with the world outside advanced more rapidly than the trade of the world, and yet, with the exception of British Malaya, every considerable part of the Empire found markets within the Empire for at least 40 per cent, of its total exports.” The Empire’s share of world trade is shown in the following percentage table:—

“For the purposes of the table, Europe is represented by a group composed of Norway, Sweden, Denmark. Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, France, and Belgium. To have obtained a greater share of this larger world trade, total imports and exports of the Empire must have increased in volume by more than 20 per cent. Advance of the overseas Empire as a whole is shown below, with total value of iniports and exports in millions of pounds:—■

Empire countries and foreign countries has expanded somewhat more rapidly than inter-imperial trade, and in 1927 the value of merchandise passing between Empire and foreign countries was about three times that passing between Empire countries. Great Britain is the greatest customer of the Empire, importing 84 per cent, of its produce in 1927 —representing an increase of 40 per cent, over 1913. Foreign imports only rose by about 15 per cent. But during this period the Mother Country’s exports have declined by about 9 per cent, on Empire markets, and no less than 30 per cent, on foreign markets. “Thus the Empire is becoming increasingly important to the United Kingdom both as a market for exports and a source of supply,” concludes the report.

1913 .. .. Empire. 27.75 U.S. 11.17 Europe. 34.20 1925 .. .. 30.70 14.31 26.14 1926 .. .. 30.29 15.15 25.52 1926 .. .. 30.70 14.31 26.14 1927 .. .. 30.29 15.15 15.52 1927 .. .. 29.48 14.21 27.49 1928 .. .. 29.00 14.00 28.00

193 3 .. IJ.K. Empire. TJ.S. .. 1,184 959 868 1925 .. .. 1,940 2,011 1,841 1926 .. .. 1,769 1,942 1,878 1927 .. .. 1,804 2,008 1,836 1928 .. .. 1,7^9 2,053 1,855 “Since 1913 direct trade between