BRITISH EXPORT FIGURES

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25811, 24 May 1949, Page 5

BRITISH EXPORT FIGURES

FALL IN RETURNS LAST MONTH BUYER RESISTANCE ABROAD NOTED _ , , LONDON, May 22. The fall m Britain’s export figures last month has brought fresh forebodings to some business quarters, who, for some time, have professed to see economic danger signals ahead, saVs Reuter. Board of Trade figures issued on Friday showed that Britain’s adverse trade balance was more than doubled in April, and was the biggest for 12 months. Exports slumped by £22,500,000 from the March figures. The adverse trade balance for the month was £44,600,000, compared with an average of £21,000,000 for the earlier months of this year. Exports during April totalled. £137,400,000, of which £5,500,000 worth was re-expnrted. Reuter adds that, though the decline is comparatively slight, many business men believe that it fits in with trends which have been apparent in foreign markets. There has been increasing buyer resistance abroad and warnings that Britain must cut her prices or no longer expect buyers. Linked with these warnings are increasing restrictions glaced on imports by foreign and omriiOnwealth countries. Some manufacturers said that with higher wages, shorter working hours, and, above all, the rising cost of raw materials, they could see no way of sharpening prices keenly enough to cut through the buyers’ resistance.

Appeal by Chancellor Several prominent politicians yesterday gave warnings on Britain’s trade position. * The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir Stafford Cripps), addressing Lancashire textile workers at Blackpool, renewed his appeals to British Wofkers to produce more for export. “We must, in the long run, depend upon ourselves, not on the goodwill