88
89
The following are the values of the principal articles imported during the 1911, 1912, 1913-
SECTION 8.--Japan.
In view of the recent rapid advance of Japan to a prominent place among the great nations of the world, and her present position as the leading industrial country in the Far East, it is proposed to review her probable economic position and activity after the war from two points of view:-
(1) Japan as a market for British goods; and
(2) Japan as an industrial and commercial competitor in the Far East and
elsewhere.
1. JAPAN AS A MARKET FOR BRITISH GOODS. The commercial information received from H.M. Commercial Attaché in Japan is so complete, accurate, and detailed, and that officer has such a wide knowledge of the economic conditions and prospects of the country, that I have freely drawn on his recent trade reports for the material on which the following brief summary is based.
Value of the Market. The total value of Japanese imports from abroad and the relative share of the nations which participated in the trade during the last three pre- war years will be seen from the subjoined table :-
Animals -
Articles,
Grains, flours, seeds, &c.
Wines and spirits
Oila, fate, waxes, &o.
Dyes, pigments, paints, &c.
Raw materiala, yarns, threads, &c. Cotton tissues
Woollen tissues
Silk tissues
Country.
1911.
1912.
1919.
1911.
1912.
1913.
years
£ 40,000 3,902,000
£
芝
44,800
5,358,800
54,90000
8,087,700
Sugar and confectionery -
949,500
1,652,000
3,773,800
158.300
56,000
87,000
Beverages and comestibles
497,000
-494,000
550,700
Tobacco
12,300
115,000
127,100
Skins, hair, bones, &c., and leather manufactures
640,000
735,600
755,500
2,374,000
2,185,000
2,063,100
Drugs, chemicals and explosives -
1,753,300
2,003,900
2,113,100
1,182,300
1,020,800
1,157,900
17,457,300 1,454,000
24,279,100
27,707,000
974,400
1,029,400
.1,495,700
892,800
1,270,400
$11,000
436,200
371,100
Clothing and accessories -
149,000
128,000
139,400
Paper and paper manufactures
1,083,300
1,290,600
1,331,000
Minerals -
305,000
419,200
581,300
Earthenware and glass and glass manufactures
311,600
389,600
409,200
Ore and totals
4,287,700
5,968,300
5,956,500
Metalo, various
1,137,800
1,415,100
1,461,200
Metal manufactures
1,840,000
2,105,000
1,565,500
Clocks, instrumente, &c.
418,100
471,300
397,400
Vehicles and vessels
1,060,100
1,133,300
1,060,400
Machinery and parts of Manures -
2,818,000
2,987,60.
3,732,700
5,277,400
5,340,100
7,225,800
Miscellaneous Re-imports
1,248,600
1,197,495
1,351,573
87,69K
84,800
82,2000
Grand total
52,450,998
63,188,795
74,462,813
£
United Kingdom
India
[1,347,252
10,177,268
f 11,856,700 13,754,800
Hong Kong
Australia
71,624
809,207
Straits Settlements
491,698
Canada
·
34,088
Total, British Empire
22,931,137
90,000 1,305,800 181,900 67,800
27,557,000
United States
Chios
Kwangtung Province
Germany
France
-
Dutch Judies
12,529,400 17,678,200
132,200 1,525,400 541,400 187,800
32,594,400
110,000
964,500
8,294,364
12,966,100
6,829,137
5,594,900
12,496,000 6,249,900
2,097,180
2,624,300
3,152,100
5,765,046
6,234,800
6,982,000
563,306 1,578,137
553,400
1,946,000
595,100 3,816,800
Italy
67,912
82,000
Belgium -
789,839
927,600
French Indo-China
1,013,063
1,086,500
Philippines
135,675
538,600
2,521,500 780,700
Egypt
$61,635
652,400
731,300
1,473
3,000
9,300
Austria-Hungary
314,722
330,800
397,100
Sweden -
358,434
359,200
519,600
Russia
54,523
7,000
4,200
Asiatic Russi
52,007
68,300
76,600
Switzerland
235,529
156,600
183,200
Siam
236,970
361,100
591,400
Chile
273,532
190,000
Other countries -
Grand total
797,377
52,450,998
948,695
283,100 1,404,013
63,188,795
74,462,813
Hawaii
It will be remarked that while the United Kingdom in 1913 contributed over 16 per cent. of the total imports, the British Empire as a whole provided no less than 43 per cent. thanks to the enormous shipments of raw cotton from India (14,601,900%) and to imports of raw wool and wool tops from Australia.
For the purposes of this section, we are mainly concerned with semi and wholly manufactured goods and the prospects for their sale in the future. So far as British trade is concerned these may be broadly divided under three headings:-
(1) Iron, steel, metals and machinery.
(2) Textiles.
(3) Chemicals.
*
1. Iron, Steel, Metals and Machinery. The United Kingdom occupies an exceptionally strong position in these articles inasmuch as, Japan, unlike China, during the early years of her industrial development appointed British advisers, professors, justructors and managers in considerable numbers, and their influence has always remained as an asset to British trade. Moreover, Japanese merchants are so thoroughly acquainted with the manufacturers in Great Britain and other countries that they are perfectly capable of judging as to their own requirements and as to the purchasing in the markets which best suit them. The field for competition is, therefore, an open one, and there is not the same scope for that "squecze chicanery which characterises German competition in China.
and
27
As regards the imports of iron and steel in pig or ingots the United Kingdom still heads the list, but increasing competition is being experienced from the Tata ironworks in India, and now that the Japanese have largely secured control of the Han-Yeh-Ping iron mines at Tayeh in China, where modern blast furnaces are being erected, the importations of pig-iron (and possibly steel later on) from China are bound to increase to the detriment of the British article. In bars and sections the United Kingdom is beater by Germany; and Belgium was also a most serious competitor before the war. In black plates and sheets British manufacturers are well ahead of their competitors the United States and Germany, and in tin plates and galvanised sheets they enjoy a virtual monopoly. They are beaten by Germany and the United States in iron pipes and tubes, and in rails.
A 2687
M
641