United Kingdom and Canada, in the British Empire, and the 
United States, Germany and France among foreign countries. 
Other countries, chiefly Czecho-Slovakia, Belgium, Italy and 
Austria, do a small export trade in certain of these kinds of goods, 
but the trade is mostly confined to their near neighbours. 
Owing to differences of classification, detailed in Appendix III, 
it is not possible to compare the export trade of even the principal 
exporting countries in mechanical rubber manufactures as a whole. 
In the following sections on Machinery Belting and Rubber Hose, 
an analysis of the world export trade, as far as possible, is presented. 
The export returns of France, however, include all the mechanical 
-ubber manufactures under one heading. The export trade of 
France in these goods, as well as in other kinds of rubber manu- 
‘actures, have therefore been analysed in a separate section. 
Machinery 
Belting. 
[ncreasing 
rade in 
rubber 
halting. 
41. Belting for machinery may be made of canvas, leather or 
‘ubber. The United Kingdom has the largest share of the export 
rade in machinery belting as a whole, including therein belting 
made of leather, rubber, balata or fabric. This position is 
primarily due to the large share which the United Kingdom has 
in the export of canvas and woven belting. Taking all kinds of 
velting together the United Kingdom supplied 55 per cent. and 
45 per cent. in 1920 and 1921 of all the machinery belting enter- 
ing international trade. In 1927 the percentage had fallen to 
384 per cent., the reduction being chiefly due to renewed com- 
petition since the war from Huropean countries, to increasing 
exports from the United States and Canada and to growing local 
competition from small belting manufacturers in nearly every 
sonsuming market. The United States exported 24 per cent. of 
the total exports of machinery belting in 1927. 
42. The world depression of 1921 and 1922 caused a great 
jecrease in the exports of belting throughout the world. Since 
those years the quantity of belting exported from the 16 chief 
manufacturing countries of the world has steadily grown until 
in 1927 it very nearly reached the same figure as in 1920. But 
3 change is coming over the kind of belting most in favour. A 
steadily increasing proportion consists of rubber or balata belting. 
This type of belting is largely used on elevators and conveyors. 
No distinction is made in the returns of many countries between 
rubber and balata belting, and consequently they have to be taken 
together when making comparisons. This change in demand is 
shown in the following table, which is based on the export figures 
>f 16 countries; the United Kingdom, the United States, Ger- 
many. France. Belgium. Canada, Czecho-Slovakia, Netherlands.