OUR TRADE WITH ITALY
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Advocates of a reduction in the " adverse " balance of merchandise trade between Great Britain and other countries will note with interest a striking recent change which has taken place in the balance of our trade with Italy where an adverse balance has been converted into a favourable balance. During the quarter ended March 81st, this year, according to the Trade and Navigation Accounts published by the Board of Trade, imports into the United Kingdom from Italy and the Italian colonies were valued at 12,255,314 while corresponding exports from the United Kingdom were valued at 22,401,988, leaving a balance in our favour of 2146,624. To this amount may be added re-exports, during the quarter, from the United Kingdom, valued at 2305,405.
These figures contrast sharply with those of previous years. Thus, in the corresponding quarter last year, British exports to Italy were valued at 22,223,011, against imports from Italy valued at £3,019,428, leaving an adverse balance for this country of 2796,417. In the corresponding quarter in 1931, our adverse balance was even larger, namely, 1980,497. It is no small achievement to have converted such a substantial ad- verse balance into a favourable balance within so short a time. "While exports as a whole from this country to Italy showed a slight decrease during the past year (from 210,706,215 in 1931 to £9,502,562 in 1982), there wes a con- siderable decline in Italian exports to Great Britain (from 215,188,363 in 1931 to 210,848,827 in 1932)," says the Journal of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in London, "due to a large extent to the depreciation of sterling and to the numerous Customs measures in this country."—I am,
Previous page
