CO885-8 — Page 284

COMPARISON

OF THE

VALUE OF IMPORTS

OF

BRITISH PRODUCE AND MANUFACTURES

WITH THE

VALUE OF SIMILAR IMPORTS OF FOREIGN ORIGIN

INTO

CERTAIN BRITISH COLONIES AND POSSESSIONS.

519

I. INTRODUCTION.

The Colonial Trade Returns, like our own, ascribe Imports generally to the country from which they have been shipped, not to the country of origin. Owing to the large re-export trade of the United Kingdom, the result is that it is credited with a larger share in the supplying of the Colonial market than it actually enjoys.

In the following Tables an attempt has been made to correct this source of error as far as possible. Imports into the Colonies are valued at the port of arrival, while exports from the United Kingdom are valued at the port of shipment. The Colonial import value is therefore larger than our export value, and merely to deduct the value of our re-exports to any particular colony from the value of its imports from the United Kingdom would still leave us with an excess credit. In these Tables the method adopted has been to ascertain the proportion which our re-exports bears to the total exports from the United Kingdom and to deduct this from the Colonial Return of Imports from the United Kingdom.

The result is not entirely satisfactory, as of course our exports to, say, India for 1901 do not exactly correspond with India's imports from us during 1901, and some part of our re-export is Colonial produce, but it is as near an approximation as can be obtained.

The above observations do not, however, apply to the Tables relating to Canada The trade returns of the Dominion distinguish goods of British origin subject to duty save in the few classes which are specially exempted from the operation of the Preferential Tariff (see note (a) on page 5). It has, consequently, not been necessary to apply the method of approximation explained above to the Canadian figures which, in so far as they relate to dutiable imports, may be considered correct.

The figures are the latest available.

North American No. 198..

100 G 468 W 14195 2/04 D&B 5 16792

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

8

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON |

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

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