INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE

Austria in 1927 exported goods worth $286,700,000; and its imports amounted to $432,000,000.

The imports of Belgium were $807,400,000; the exports were $728,400,000.

Czecho-Slovakia exported $599,000,000; imported a lower amount, $531,700,000.

Denmark imported goods worth $443,000,000, and exported to the value of $413,100,000.

Finland’s exports amounted to $159,300,000; its imports in the same year, 1927, were $160,400,000.

The exports of France amounted to $2,158,400,000, and its imports to $2,065,000,000. In the preceding year, the exports were slightly below the imports.

Germany in 1927 exported commodities worth $2,425,500,000, and imported $3,362,000,000. The respective figures for 1926 were $2,343,800,000 and $2,376,300,000.

Italy in 1927 exported $803,100,000 and imported $1,033,500,000.

The Netherlands imported $1,022,700,000 and exported commodities worth $762,000,000.

Norway imported $257,100,000 and exported $178,200,000.

Poland imported $313,800,000 and exported $281,200,000.

Sweden imported $422,500,000 and exported $432,300,000.

Switzerland imported $482,800,000 and exported $386,000,000.

The United Kingdom imported $5,931,500,000 and exported goods worth $4,044,800,000. In the preceding year (1926), imports amounted to $6,040,500,000, and exports to $3,777,200,000.

As Professor Seligman points out, “imports must in the long run pay for exports, and vice versa.” But “it must be remembered that goods are exchanged not only for goods, but for services.” In the case of the United Kingdom, important service items are investment returns, freight, insurance, and foreign exchange charges paid by foreigners. Most leading European countries have an “unfavorable” balance of trade; that is, their imports are more valuable than their exports, measured in tangibles alone. This condition existed before the World War, and is not to be taken as an indication of impoverishment.