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America vs. Japan in Latin America

(April 1934)

From The Militant, Vol. VII No. 17, 28 April 1934, p. 2.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’ Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).

The key to many of the policies of American imperialism, both in relation to Latin America and to Japan, may be found in the following facts and figures, the latter taken from a Panama newspaper.

A veritable flood of goods from Japan is reaching the Latin American market which, for the last 15 years, has been considered reserved for the U.S. While the amount of goods bearing the tale “Made in U.S.A.” is diminishing, the goods bearing the words “Made in Japan” are increasing in number, relatively to the amount of imports from other countries and absolutely in relation to the figures of each preceding years.

Silks; cambrics; food-stuffs; paper goods; articles of porcelain, crockery, glassware, and china; drug, medical and toilet articles, leather goods; bamboo; canvas shoes; rubber articles; toys; celluloid – these are the chief articles of import.
 

Japanese Exports

The value of the imports from Japan to Paraguay in pesos de oro:

To Peru, in Japanese yen:

In Panama, where three years ago Japanese goods were unknown, they now hold second place. The figures given are in Panamanian dollars, and for the months cited only.

Before May, 1931, there was a monthly import of less than $15,000.

Tendency Alarms U.S.

These are but examples of a general tendency that is causing, to say the least, a great deal of anxiety in the U.S. These figures are not large, but the fact that Japan’s exports to the Latin American markets can gain, as in Brazil, where for the first hall of 1933, the increase was 113%, to Cuba, a relatively changing position, a 173%, and to Peru, where the increase was 322%, is symptomatic of process that in the final analysis can only be changed by imperialist war.

In this time of crisis every shred, scrap and crumb of foreign market assumes a great importance. A teaspoonful of water to a man dying of thirst is much more important than a well of water in a region where there is plenty. These two facts – of Japan’s increasing foreign trade in Latin America and the great demand for every dollar’s worth of market by the U.S. – must be taken careful account of when reading the reports of international conferences.
 

U.S. Exports to South America

Part of the meaning behind the Pan-American congresses, treaties, etc., can be found in these figures of U.S. exports to South America. These figures are taken from the World Year Book:

These figures for 1932 are less than 20% of those for 1929. The same process is at work on a world scale as the following figures for the world export of the U.S. show:

Do the Figures Spell War?

Japanese exports in these years decreased also, but nowhere near the degree of the other powers.

While in 1932 U.S. exports dropped to 31% of the 1929 figures, Japanese exports only dropped, at the end of the year 1932, to 67%.

Does this inequality mean war in which the American and Japanese wage slaves will, among other things, fight to determine whether Japanese or North American goods shall be found in the bazaars of India, the fairs of South America and the market places generally of the world?

 
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