Press Release Issued by the Department of State on April 6, 193967
The Department of Commerce gives the following figures for American exports to Manchuria through the port of Dairen for the past 10 years:
Value of Exports From United States to Manchuria
(Department of Commerce statistics)
| U. S. dollars | U. S. dollars | ||
| 1929 | 11,841,000 | 1934 | 3,939,000 |
| 1930 | 6,405,000 | 1935 | 4,188,000 |
| 1931 | 2,176,000 | 1936 | 3,542,000 |
| 1932 | 1,186,000 | 1937 | 16,068,000 |
| 1933 | 2,691,000 | 1938 | *17,000,000 |
Statistics based upon Chinese Maritime Customs reports and reports of the “Manchukuo” customs are given below for comparative purposes:
Value of Imports From United States Into Manchuria
(Chinese and “Manchukuo” customs statistics)
| U. S. dollars | U. S. dollars | ||
| 1929 | 14,360,000 | 1934 | 11,500,000 |
| 1930 | 8,600,000 | 1935 | 7,460,000 |
| 1931 | 3,700,000 | 1936 | 6,880,000 |
| 1932 | 4,230,000 | 1937 | 16,680,000 |
| 1933 | 7,440,000 | 1938 | *17,005,000 |
Neither of these tables includes for 1929, 1930, and 1931 the value of transshipments of American goods from China to Manchuria which in those years were valued, according to careful estimates, at approximately US$4,000,000 in 1929, US$3,000,000 in 1930 and US$2,000,000 in 1931. Subsequent to 1931 the figures in the second table are based [Page 156] upon “Manchukuo” customs statistics, which include shipments from China.
The following figures obtained from the Department of Commerce indicate the character of Manchuria’s principal imports from the United States for the past 3 years:
(In U. S. dollars)
| Item | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 |
| Crude petroleum | 130,000 | 974,000 | 1,372,000 |
| Refined petroleum | 652,000 | 2,462,000 | 2,712,000 |
| Machinery and vehicles† | 789,000 | 2,663,000 | 4,047,000 |
| Manufactured iron and steel (Plates, bars, sheets, rails, etc.) |
537,000 | 7,044,000 | 5,888,000 |
| Raw cotton | Nil | 1,227,000 | 1,556,000 |
In 1937 Japan was engaged in building up large stocks of raw materials and materials of a military and heavy industry character. During the latter part of the year 1937 and throughout 1938, Japan was engaged in hostilities in China. The increased imports of Manchuria in 1937 and 1938 from non-Japanese sources were obviously connected with Japan’s preparation for and execution of military operations, and the figures for those years warrant no inference that Japan’s occupation of Manchuria has more widely opened the doors of commercial opportunity or benefited American enterprise in Manchuria.
Citation of trade figures in no way detracts from the correctness of the following statements made by this Government in its note of October 6, 1938, to Japan:68
“A large part of American enterprise which formerly operated in Manchuria has been forced to withdraw from that territory as a result of the preferences in force there. … equality of opportunity or the open door has virtually ceased to exist in Manchuria …”
Far more important than the figures of the import trade into Manchuria for 2 exceptional years are the following facts. By administrative measures of a discriminatory character, American business enterprises have been excluded from the field of distribution within Manchuria. Preferences in force, favoring Japanese enterprise, have compelled many American enterprises to withdraw from Manchuria and have discouraged other American enterprises from operating in Manchuria. The branch of a large American bank at Mukden was closed several years ago and one of the largest importers, an American firm, of American machinery in the Far East was impelled to close its offices in Manchuria. By legislation establishing exchange and trade [Page 157] control, all foreign trade and enterprise in Manchuria except Japanese have been and are being discriminated against.
Trade figures show, in the case of Manchuria, an increase in the last 2 years in the volume of trade, but it is misleading to draw from this fact the conclusion that American enterprise in general has benefited or may in the future benefit from the changes which have occurred in Manchuria subsequent to 1931. Trade figures do not show what brought about the increase in 1937 and 1938 in our exports to Manchuria, nor how American enterprise in general has been treated and been affected, or what may be expected to be long swing effects as contrasted with short swing effects.
- Reprinted from Department of State, Press Releases, April 8, 1939 (vol. xx, No. 497), p. 262.↩
- Department of Commerce figure. [Footnote in the original]↩
- Department of Commerce figure. [Footnote in the original]↩
- Motor vehicles comprised approximately one-half of the imports under this general heading for the 3 years cited. [Footnote in the original.]↩
- Post, p. 785.↩