REVIEW OF THE YEAR
became the Colony's most important customer, dis- placing China which fell to second place.
A large
part of this export trade was in Hong Kong manu- factures such as cotton yarn, textiles, enamelware, torches, plastic-ware and the like but there was also a considerable volume of re-export business.
Imports from Japan ran at about HK$40 million, (£2 million) a month but exports to Japan averaged less than HK$10 million, (£650,000) and Hong Kong's adverse balance coupled with the adverse balance with Japan of the sterling area as a whole made it necessary to impose progressively severe restrictions on imports from Japan. As a first step re-exports to the sterling area were stopped, then licences for cotton textiles were suspended and imports of rayon restricted to goods for local consumption. Finally in December, 1952, it became necessary to suspend the import of a number of commodities including enamelware, china- ware, toys, lighters, and bicycle parts. Hong Kong can play an important part as a distributing centre for Japanese goods and it is hoped that 'during 1953, the balance of payment problem will be resolved and make freer trade possible once more.
Import restrictions imposed by other countries had a considerable effect on Hong Kong trade during the year. Exports to Australia fell heavily and exchange regulations introduced in Indonesia during the latter part of the year, resulted in the cancellation of many orders for locally manufactured textiles and left the market seriously overstocked with yarn. The most severe restrictions were those imposed by the United States authorities on goods presumed to be of Chinese
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