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127 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. v (1926)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0127 and id is 1 raw text is: FOREWORD

DURING the past ten years, more has
been written about foreign trade, per-
haps, than any other single subject.
In  the  United   States the discus-
sion has centered about the over-
night change from a debtor to a cred-
itor nation, the startling changes to be
expected in the relative volume of ex-
ports and imports, and the various
effects of debt repayment by foreign
countries. Time after time we have
been told that international debts can
be paid only in goods and services, and
that our new creditor status will likely
result in a flood of merchandise imports
in excess of exports. The unusual em-
phasis placed on such points has had
the very desirable result of impressing
them indelibly on the public mind, but
the very vehemence of the discussion
has tended, through its overemphasis,
to create the impression in some quar-
ters that export trade is no longer im-
portant nor desirable. Such, of course,
is not the case, either from the stand-
point of the individual exporter, or the
nation as a whole. To the exporter the
foreign trade market is apt to appear
merely as an additional market to in-
crease sales, and thereby permit large-
scale production, or as an outlet in
times of emergency for surplus stock
which cannot be disposed of at home.
Although domestic consumers may
benefit appreciably by this practice
because it permits the same producers
to sell at lower prices in the United
States, the real gain comes to the
nation as a whole, for to the nation as
a whole exports provide a means of
securing the largest amount of satis-
factions with the least expenditure of
effort-a result which is accomplished
by exchanging domestic goods pro-
duced with great efficiency for those
produced at great advantage in foreign
v

countries. Exports are, in reality, the
price paid for imports, therefore the
nation should be as vitally interested
in its exports as the individual is in his
expenditures.
During the war, many revolutionary
changes occurred in foreigp trade.
While some of these rested on fun-
damental factors such as technical
changes in manufacturing methods,
greater industrialization of certain sec-
tions, or opening up of new sources of
raw materials, others were directly
traceable to disturbances created by
the war and were destined to disappear
with the return of peace. Enough
time has now elapsed to permit an
analysis of these changes and a sift-
ing of the temporary from the per-
manent. Accordingly the attempt is
made in this volume to show the pres-
ent status of our export trade and to
discuss the influence of various gov-
ernment policies on such trade. We
have preferred to show the present
status by a consideration of individual
commodities, and have selected for
special treatment not only those that
have been most important in point of
value, but also those that seem to
present some special problem, such as
foreign competition, or those that have
shown very rapid growth in recent
years.
If we are to have a definite national
policy toward export trade it can be
formulated only after answering the
following questions: What are our lead-
ing exports? Why do we excel in the
production of such goods? What pro-
portion of our production is sold
abroad? Is the demand merely tem-
porary, or is it apt to be permanent?
What obstacles are encountered in
selling these goods abroad, and what
is the source of greatest competition?

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