EXPANDING TRADE

Evening Star, Issue 19891, 13 June 1928, Page 6

EXPANDING TRADE

THE POSITION IN BRITAIN MINISTER'S REVIEW (British Official Wireless.) Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright RUGBY, June 12. (Received Juno 13, at noon.) In the House of Commons Sir Philip Cunliffc-Lister (president of the Board of Trade) made an interesting survey of British trade. He said that it was satisfactory to sec throughout one group of industries after another considerable progress in the volume of production in 1927 and the first quarter of 1928 compared with 1924. Comparing the five months of 1928 with the corresponding mouths ol 1924, there wore over 500,000 more people who had found work.

With regard to coal, tho actual production in 1925 was 243,000,000 tons, and in 1927 it was 251,000,000 tons. There was a considerable amount of evidence to show that Britain had been competing successiully with German and Polish coal in the foreign markets.

With regard to steel, there had been a considerable increase compared with 1924.

In shipbuilding there had been a falling off in orders following a considerable earlier improvement, winch, ho thought, was a reflection of the lower shipping freights which prevailed to-day, but one thing which was satisfactory was that we were certainly today holding our own in building whatever tonnage was required as against tho rest of the world. The vessels under construction in this country on December 31 last represented a tentage of 1,580,000, or 50.7 per cent, of the world’s tonnage.

Turning to engineering, lie said that the last report he had had from the motor trade was that the 1927 output was being maintained. An increase was expected in the production of commercial cars, and there was some improvement in the"export of commercial cars, particularly to South America. In electrical engineering there was a distinctly brighter outlook in the face of keen competition. If they took tho live great exporting countries of the world they found Great Britain taking the lead in the export of electrical machines. That was a very remarkable thing in a trade where before tho war we wero certainly not nf tho head. Wo exported 34.4 per cent., Germany 30.4 per cent,, and tho United States of America 29 per cent. Whereas Britain’s shra-o of tho world’s trade in 1913 was 15 per cent., by 1927 it was onU- 11 per cent. During tho same )>• hod Europe’s share of tho world’s export trade dropped from 62 to 52 per cent. British exports in 1913 wore 37 per cent, to the Empire. 34 to Europe, and 29 to tho rest of the world. In 1927 tho exports to the Empire wore 424 per cent., and to Europe 29 J por cent., while to tho rest of tho world they were 28 per cent.

Tho Eilni Act had been a signal success, as of tho 932 films registered to date 104 were British—more than double tho number required for tho quota for tho first year.