Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1941, Blaðsíða 101

SWEDISH TRADE POLICY IN WARTIME
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must unfortunately admit that Swedish trade policy, in spite of
patient endeavours, has only partially succeeded in solving the
first of its tasks. Only in exceptional cases have we been able
to break through our isolation, and as our stocks are becoming
depleted we shall come to realise fully what this isolation in-
volves for our economy.
Trade with Germany.
The second of the main lines in Sweden’s commercial policy
has been the development of trade within the blockade. Here
Germany is traditionally our principal customer and supplier.
For the last seven years trade with Germany has been regulated
by a clearing system, the application of which is perhaps most
easily explained by the following example. In 1938 Swedish
importers of German goods paid 428 mill. kronor into the
Clearing Office in Stockholm. This total was distributed as
follows: 333 mill. kronor were paid out to exporters of Swedish
goods to Germany; 38 mill. kronor were paid for carriage, patent
rights, etc.; and 57 mill. kronor were divided between Swedish
interest claims and the German Reichsbank. The framework of
the entire clearing system, and thus of the Swedish export trade
with Germany, is, as it will be seen, conditioned by the pay-
ments into the Clearing Office in Stockholm, or in other words
by Swedish imports from Germany. Our imports from Germany
have shown a steady increase during the last few years. In 1935
the payments into the Clearing Office totalled 315 mill. kronor,
in 1938 they amounted to 428 mill. kronor, in 1939 to 578 mill.
kronor, and last year, 1940, to no less than 732 mill. kronor.
The main factors underlying this development have been on
one hand the increase in the purchasing power of the Swedish
people made possible by the gradual increase of prosperity in
Sweden, which in its turn is largely due to the favourable devel-
opment of our export trade — and on the other hand on the
purposeful German trade policy, which has filled the gap be-
tween German domestic prices and the world price level by the
systematic subsidizing of German exports to Sweden, a policy
which was maintained right up to April 1940. After the out-
break of war other factors have supervened which have tended
to increase imports from Germany. During the period ending
April 1940 Germany’s competitive power was increased by the