July 1, 1919.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



547 



The British and United States Rubber Goods Export Trade 

 Compared— 1913-1918. 



THE REPORT rcently issued by Ihc research, bureau of 

 the War Trade Board on the export trade policy of the 

 United Kingdom for 1913-1918 indicates clearly the drastic 

 measures which Great Britain has taken in cutting down her 

 foreign trade in order to win the war, and they seem all the more 

 drastic when her problems concerning foreign exchange are con- 

 sidered as well as the further fact that so much tonnage now 

 departs from her ports in ballast. 



While the rubber manufacturing industry has suffered less 

 heavily than some other British industries, the sacrifices are 

 shown to have been great, and the 

 comparison with exports of similar 

 American goods for corresponding 

 periods is of interest. 



Both the United Kingdom and 

 the United States show increased 

 exports of various products in dif- 

 ferent years to the European allies, 

 these increases being greater on the 

 part of the United States, in some 

 instances, than on the part of the 

 United Kingdom, partly because the 

 latter was in the war from the be- 

 ginning and unable to spare so 

 much to her allies as was the 

 United States. 



1913 



OF United St.' 



RUBBER BOOTS AND SHOES. 



In 1913 a little over 1,500,000 

 pairs of rubber boots and shoes 

 were exported from the United 

 kingdom. In the first half of 1918 

 this had fallen to about 500,000 

 pairs, or about two- thirds of the 

 former number. Of the countries 

 specified, France is the only one 

 showing an increase of purchases. 

 British reexports of rubber boots 

 and shoes showed a notable in- 

 crease to the end of 1916 to Nor- 

 way, Denmark and other countries. 

 The total reexport in 1917 was 

 over five times as great a; the total 



for 1913, but had dropped to practically nothing by the first half 

 of the calendar year 1918. 



As compared with this, the United States exported over 

 2,666,000 pairs of rubber boots and shoes in 1913. Exports in- 

 creased to nearly 4,000,000 pairs in 1917, but fell below 3,000,000 

 pairs in 1918, which, however, was nearly 20 per cent greater 

 than in 1913. Excluding exports to the European allies, the 

 quantity sold by the United States has fallen to one-half what 

 it was in 1913. Early shipments to Belgium and Italy were large, 

 but practically all of the increase, especially since the war began, 

 has been to France and the United Kingdom. There have been 

 large relative increases also in our much less important shipments 

 to Newfoundland and Labrador, and some increase in shipments 

 to Canada and South Africa. The shipments to South .America 

 and Asia have fallen off very much. 



RUBBER TIRES AND TUBES. 



In terms of value the United Kingdom domestic exports ' of 

 rubber tires and tubes increased from over $6,000,000 in 1913 to 

 over $10,000,000 in 1916, but showed a marked decrease in 1917 

 and the first half of 1918. Were increasing prices taken into 

 account, it is probable that the total exports have decreased in 



quantity during the period from 1913 to 1918. A considerable 

 part of the exports went to France and Italy. From 1913 to 

 1916 there were increases in terms of value, though probably not 

 in quantity, to Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland, as well as to 

 British India and Australasia. There have been decreases, even 

 in terms of value, to Argentina and Brazil. 



United States exports^ of tires and tubes increased from 

 $4,500,000 in 1913 to $21,000,000 in 1916, though the total had 

 fallen to a little over $15,000,000 in 1918. Excluding exports to 

 the European allies, the total increased from less than $3,000,000 

 in 1913 to over $13,000,000 in 1918. 

 The great increases to the Euro- 

 pean allies were in the years 1915 

 to 1917, mostly in 1916, and the 

 amount sent to them in 1918 was 

 actually less than .in 1913 or 1914. 

 There have been especially large 

 increases in sales to Canada, Mex- 

 ico and North American countries; 

 also huge increases to South Amer- 

 ican countries, notably to Argen- 

 tina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Uruguay 

 and Venezuela, the total to South 

 .America being over sixteen times 

 as great in 1918 as in 1913 or 1914. 

 Much the same is true of ship- 

 m-ents to Australia, New Zealand 

 and Japan. Quantity statistics are 

 not available, and it should be re- 

 membered that statistics in terms of 

 value exaggerate the facts. 

 OTHER RUBBER MANUFACTURES. 

 British exports of rubber manu- 

 factures other than boots and shoes, 

 tires and tubes, and waterproofed 

 apparel, fell off greatly in terms of 

 value during the years 1914 and 

 1915, but in 1916 and 1917 were al- 

 most as great as in pre-war years. 

 They showed some decline, how- 

 ever, in the first half of 1918. Dur- 

 ing the years 1914 to 1916, inclu- 

 sive, exports to France increased about 50 per cent, and there 

 were also increases to British India, China, Australia and New 

 Zealand. During the same period exports decreased about 35 

 pel cent to Italy ; there were marked decreases to the United 

 States, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, while exports to Belgium 

 were practically discontinued. Were the figures converted into 

 terms of tons decreases would be shown in nearly every case. 



Prior to the war the value of all American exports of rubber 

 manufactures, other than boots and shoes, tires and tubes, belt- 

 ing, hose, packing, reclaimed, scrap and old rubber, was a little 

 less than half that of corresponding British exports. While the 

 value of such British exports was about the same in 1917 as it 

 had been in 1913, the value of corresponding United States ex- 

 ports had more than doubled, being $8,250,000, but falling to $6,- 

 000,000 in 1918. There have been large increases in exports of 

 this class of goods to the European allies, especially to France, 

 Ilaly, and the United Kingdom; also to Canada. Mexico, Cuba, 

 Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Japan, Aus- 

 tralia and New Zealand. Here again, however, the quantities 

 are exaggerated somewhat by the price data. 



1917 1918 



iND British Exports. 



