ow in comparison with those of another country in which that 
rade 1s not so important. 
Favourable 
buying of 
raw Tubber. 
{nterpre- 
tation of 
national 
statistics. 
Chief manu- 
facturing 
qounntries. 
30. Values of exports may further vary considerably from time 
'o time according to the state of internal competition in the ex- 
yorting country and also if the manufacturers of the country have 
been able to buy rubber at favourable prices. The price of raw 
rubber has fluctuated considerably in recent years, and, as manu- 
‘acturers buy rubber ahead of their requirements to the extent 
of 50 to 70 per cent. it can happen that a firm may have obtained 
ts raw material at a relatively low price. Rubber at 1s. a pound 
represents about 40 per cent. of the works cost. 
31. Conclusions regarding the progress of an industry in a par- 
dicular country drawn from a mere comparison of the trade 
statistics of exports and imports for two or three years may there- 
‘ore be vitiated by all or some of these causes. None the less, 
she survey of national statistics over a period of years furnishes 
ery important information regarding the capacity of the import- 
ng markets, the indications of their growth and strength and 
‘he nature of the competition therein. It is these aspects of the 
statistics which we stress in the paragraphs we devote to a survey 
>f the rubber tyre industry. 
32. Concurrently with a great expansion in the production of 
yres in countries already manufacturing those goods before the 
War, the number of countries in which they are now manufactured 
has also increased. Motor tyres are now manufactured in 20 
ountries namely :— 
In the British Empire : United Kingdom, Canada, Australia. 
South Africa and British Malaya. 
In foreign countries : United States, France, Italy, Belgium, 
Japan, Germany, Czecho-Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Den- 
mark. Sweden, Russia. the Netherlands, Spain. and Mexico. 
Of these countries only eight enter seriously into competition in 
nternational trade. They are the United Kingdom, Canada, the 
United States, France, Italy, Belgium, Japan and Germany. 
Australia practically reached, in 1927, a stage of self-sufficiency in 
iyre manufacture. The general picture is therefore one of fairly 
-apidly growing world demand, which is gradually being satisfied 
nore and more in many countries by increasing local production, 
sut still leaving a large surplus demand unsatisfied, for which at 
oresent eight countries chiefly compete, but for which more may 
~omnete in the future. 
[rter- 
national 
rade in 
outer 
~OVOTS. 
33. The shares of these eight countries in each branch of the tyre 
trade cannot be shown statistically owing to differences in classifica- 
tion in their returns of export trade. France until recently, Italy, 
Belgium and Japan, for instance, make no distinction between outer