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Germany and the United States in the supply of these goods to the Japanese market, as the following figures show :-
IMPORTS INTO JAPAN OF MANUFACTURED AND SEMI-MANUFACTURED GOODS.
1913.
1922.
1929.
Manufactured and semi-manufactured goods
imported into Japan.
17.4
(In Million £).
49.6
47.2
(Per Cent.)
Percentage of manufactured and semi-manu-
factured goods imported in relation to total imports.
Percentage share of manufactured goods
imported from:
United Kingdom
Germany...
United States
24
26
21
thet
42.2
31.1
23.4
22.7
11.6
21.2
11.6
32.8
29.0
It will be observed that in respect of imports of manufactured and semi-manufactured goods only, Great Britain has, since 1913, dropped from the position of supplying nearly one-half of the total to supplying less than one quarter. The United States has, how- ever, more than doubled her share, which in 1913 was under 12 per cent. and in 1929 about 29 per cent. of the total. This increase is not due primarily to the United States trade in motor cars, for in 1929 exports from the United States to Japan of iron and steel goods, as well as machinery, were both considerably larger than exports of motor cars. Germany, in spite of the complete elimina- tion of her trade with Japan during the War, has regained her pre-war position. Moreover, if the value of British imports into Japan in 1929 of manufactured and semi-manufactured goods is reduced to 1913 values, our trade in these goods in 1929 was but 77 per cent. of 1913.
18. Examples of the positions which Great Britain, Germany, and the United States hold in Japan's import trade will illustrate the tendencies referred to in the preceding paragraph. In iron and steel (not including machinery), imports from Great Britain into Japan during 1913 were of greater value than those from the two other countries together, being valued at £2.4 million, as com- pared with £.87 million from the United States, and £1.49 million from Germany. In 1929 the figures were :—
From the United States
From Germany
T
From Great Britain
£
4.0 million
3.6
2.4
}}
77
15
In that period of sixteen years imports of these goods from the United States had increased in value nearly five times, and from Germany nearly three times, whilst imports from Great Britain in 1929 remained at approximately the 1913 value. In the figures quoted, no adjustment of values as between 1913 and 1929 has been made. If such an adjustment were made it would be found that, in quantity, imports from Great Britain had decreased sub- stantially, although values had remained stationary.
The other example is machinery (not including motor cars). Here again, British imports into Japan were, in 1913, nearly equal in value to those from Germany and the United States together, and amounted to nearly £1.8 million. In 1929, imports of machinery from Great Britain into Japan were valued at £3.4 million, but imports from the United States had increased from £0.9 million to £4.2 million, and imports from Germany from £0.9 million to £2.1 million. The examples quoted take on a greater significance when it is realised that, next to raw cotton, iron and steel and machinery rank second in importance in the list of Japanese imports.
19. The position in 1929 was that the United States was the leading supplier to Japan of manufactured goods, with Great Britain a bad second, and Germany almost up to Great Britain. The post-war recovery made by Germany is most striking. During the six years, 1915-1920, imports into Japan from Germany were almost eliminated. In 1922 the German share of the Japanese import trade in manufactured and semi-manufactured goods was 11.6 per cent. as compared with Great Britain's share of 31.1 per cent. In 1929 Germany, by attaining a figure of 21.2 per cent., had almost doubled her share of Japanese imports of manufactured and semi-manufactured goods, whilst Great Britain's share had fallen from 31.1 per cent. to 23.4 per cent. Between the years 1922 and 1929, Germany more than doubled the value of her export of iron and steel to Japan, and in 1929 sold more of these products than did Great Britain. Her exports of machinery to Japan in the period 1922-1929, increased nearly three times in value, whilst those of Great Britain diminished. She sold to Japan much more ammonium sulphate than did Great Britain, and in 1922 and 1929 she sold woollen and worsted yarns of twice the value of those sold by Great Britain, and she secured a quarter of the market in woollen tissues.
20. Between 1913 and 1929, the character of Japan's imports had changed substantially. Industrialisation led to an increase in the import of raw materials and a decrease in the proportion of manu- factured goods imported. The completion of a large number of factories and of many new ocean-going vessels as well as the end of the reconstruction programme following the earthquake in 1923, diminished the need for the heavier types of goods, particularly
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