The Removal of Sanctions Sanctions against Italy came to an
end on July 15th, and commercial relations with Italy revert, at any rate officially, to the status quo ante November last. It is sometimes forgotten that that status was in fact anything but normal. Since the latter part of 1934 Italian exchange restrictions had made it uniformly difficult for British firms trading with Italy to obtain payment for goods delivered or to withdraw any balances held by them in . Italian banks. A Payments Agreement concluded in April of last year, which was intended to provide for the , settlement of these debts out of the receipts from Italian exports to this country, worked badly ; and when sanctions were imposed, it was stated that something like £1,000,000 was owing from Italy to British coal shippers alone, quite apart from Italy's other commercial debts. South Wales coal exporters were among those who recently brought pressure to bear on the Government to withdraw sanctions ; and there has been much talk behind the scenes of the loss of British trade entailed by the sanctions policy. The first business of the British merchant in Italy at the present time appears, however, to be one of debt collection rather than of finding fresh markets. Italy is one of the many countries where it is easy to sell British goods, but uncommonly hard to get paid for them.
Previous page
