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536
viii. commerce.
These duties struck at the most vulnerable points in Sweden’s export trade
with Germany, and the object aimed at was gained: Sweden applied to Germany
with a request for negotiations. It was, however, now discovered that the
Swedish customs tariff was quite antiquated and would have to be submitted to
a thorough revision before any definite result could be attained. All that was
done therefore was to conclude a preliminary treaty in the year 1906, which,
after an extension to which Germany had acceded, remained in force until
Dec. 1, 1911. In this treaty the duties most fatal to Swedish export were
removed or reduced.
In this manner Sweden gained time to elaborate, through the instrumentality
of a committee, a proposal for a new tariff, which, with minor alterations and
amendments, was passed by the Riksdag of 1910. The most characteristic feature
of this treaty is a thorough-going specification of the various kinds of goods.
Whereas the old tariff contained 740 headings, the new one embraces no less
than 1 325. The earlier treaty scheduled chiefly semi-manufactured and coarser
goods; the various kinds of finer, finished goods were only very incompletely,
or not at all, specified, and therefore did not receive any greater protection than
the coarser articles.
On the basis of the new tariff negotiations were then opened with Germany,
and a great number of mutual concessions were made, so many that a detailed
enumeration of them is out of the question. It must suffice to say that
Sweden, on the whole, succeeded in safeguarding the advantages gained in the year
1906. Sweden, on her part, granted to Germany a reduction on a great many
goods, especially leather goods and textiles, and undertook not to impose any
export duty on iron ore. As Sweden retained her single tariff system, the
reduced duties immediately passed into the new tariff, which came into force
on Dec. 1, 1911. The treaty is to be in force, unless terminated by one of
the parties, until the year 1921; it may, however, be terminated any time after
the year 1917 after one year’s notice, and it is quite probable that it will be
so terminated by Germany.
It is not possible to determine directly how the rates of the duties have
varied under the various customs tariffs. The rate of a duty can be gauged
only if it is expressed as a percentage of the value of the goods imported,
but this is rendered difficult by the fact that most — in the 1911 customs
tariff practically all — duties were not ad valorem but were levied on quantity.
However, by an indirect procedure it is possible to form some idea of their value,
namely by deducting from the total imports the amount of imported raw
materials, on which duties can scarcely be imposed under any circumstances, and
then calculating the percentage of revenue from customs duties on the remainder
of the imports. In this way we arrive at the result that the duties during the
seventies amounted to about 13 %, and during the eighties to about 15 %, of the
value of the goods. These figures, however, include both protective and revenue
duties. If we deduct the latter, the average protection during the eighties works
out at 6 % to 7 % of the value.
We now come to the application of the new system in the years 1888 to
1892. What effect has resulted from the introduction of duties on cereals is
not clearly shown by the figures of these years for all the duties; an increase
certainly sets in in the years 1888 to 1891, but in the years 1891 to 1892
there is again a standstill at about 15 %. After this, however, there ensues a
considerable rise at the rate of about 1 % per annum, up to and including the
year 1896, when 19 % was attained. Afterwards the figure keeps at 19 % to 20 %
up to and inclusive of the year 1904. The extent of the change will obviously
be brought out far more clearly, if we consider solely the protective duties;
these latter rose in fact from an average of 6 % to 7 % to about 17 %.
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