536 V ili. 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. ] , 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 tq be in force, unless terminated by one ipf
the parties, nmt.il 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. I f 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 1 5 # . 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 %.
COMMERCIAL POLICY. 537
With the year 1905, there sets in quite a considerable fall; for the following
years the figure for all duties fluctuates between 17 % and 18 %, for the protective
duties solely between 15 and 16 %, which is equivalent to an average fall of
Vio in the rates of the duties, and this in spite of no appreciable reductions
having occurred. This must be ascribed to the way in which prices kept going
up from the end of the nineties. The duties axe, as has already been mentioned,
levied on the . quantity, not on the Value of the goods. Thus, when a certain
rate has been fixed for a certain quantity, but that quantity continually rises in
price, the duty forms an ever diminishing portion of the value; a period of
rising prices like the one in which we are now living ought thus to entail a
continuous fall in the protective effect of duties. On account of the reform of
the. tariff, rising and falling markets, unsatisfactory statistical data as to value,
and other factors, this tendency. certainly receives but imperfect expression in
the figures, but we see from the above inquiry that it is nevertheless distinctly
perceptible.
For the year 1911, the figure thus obtained was 17 %. The average rate of
duty ought, however, to be put at something slightly higher, as, besides the group
of raw materials, there are some goods which, in Sweden as well as in other
protectionist countries, are exempt from, duty; if we deduct these also, the'figure
obtained will be 18 %. The new customs tariff of Dec. 1, 1911, has not
entailed any change in this respect; the figure calculated for the year 1912
according to this principle- also works out at 18 %, and for the year 1913 at 17 %.
In this regard Sweden comes very close to Germany, where the corresponding
figure, for a number of years has been 19 to 20 %, and with Norway, where it
is about 19 For Denmark again, which is mainly a free-trade country, the
figure is about 8 %. On the whole, it may be said that customs duties in
Sweden stand at about the normal figure for protectionist countries, and rather
below than above it.
These figures, however, do not constitute a reliable index of the effective
protection, as they include both revenue and protective duties, which for this
purpose must be separated. In the case of Sweden, matters stand as follows.
The revenue duties are, as a rule, higher than the protective duties. In
Sweden they average about 30 % of the value. They are imposed principally
on three different kinds of goods. The most important is the duty on tobacco,
which, however, like the duty on alcohol, may be looked upon, to some extent,
as a protective duty. This duty is 1 krona per kg for unmanufactured tobacco,
which may only be imported by a concessionaire under the State Monopoly,
1 krona 80 ore for pipe-tobaeco, snuff and the like, and 6 kronor for cigars
and cigarettes; on an average, the duty is about 50 % for manufactured goods
and over 80 # for unmanifaetured. Next in order comes the duty on wine
and spirits, which amounts to about 55 to 60 % of the value. The third, the
duty on coffee at 12 ore per kg, is, on the other hand, one of the lowest
duties, amounting to only about 10 % of the value.
The protective duties are on an average about 15 % of the value, which was
also the case when the earlier tariff was in force; the new tariff has therefore
not entailed any change in the rates of the protective duties. The protective
duties may be divided into duties on articles of food and industrial duties.
Amongst the duties on articles of food the most important are undoubtedly
the duties on cereals. These latter are, for all kinds of cereals except oats and
maize, which are free of duty, 3’70 kronor per quintal for unmilled grain and
6 '6o kronor for milled. This makes, in proportion to the value, (still following
the figures of the trade statistics), for unmilled wheat 25 %, and for rye 30 %,
for flour again 32 and 43 % respectively. Both wheat and rye flour fall under
the category of goods on which the heaviest duties are imposed. For sugar the