Comparison of Trade Rivalries

The German-Great Britain trade rivalry like the U.S.-Japan

trade rivalry involved a rising power cutting into the trade of

an already dominant trading power. There were several causes of the

German-Great Britain trade rivalry according to Hoffman. The first was

German's industry's zeal in procuring new contracts and expanding

markets. They did this by fulfilling contracts even if they were very

small and constantly trying to stay up with market demand. Second,

Germans had a knowledge of languages that the English firms lacked.

Third, German industry was aided by their government. In contrast

Great Britain did not even supply consular assistance in helping

develop markets in British colonies. Fourth, British trade was hurt by

the conservatism of British manufacturers who were unwilling to

develop new markets or hold onto those it already possessed. These

four factors are just some of the factors that helped German industry

grow and rival that of Great Britain.

These four factors are all very similar to the Japan-U.S.

trade rivalry. Japan like Germany was able to catch up to the U.S.

because the U.S. was large and arrogant and refused to believe it

could face competition from Japan. Like Britain, U.S. industry

believed that they could hold onto markets and would not face

competition. British and U.S. industry were startled by the fast rate

of growth and industrialization that allowed Germany and Japan to

transform themselves quickly into trading rivals. This fast rate of

growth also caused friction between both sets of countries. Relations

between Germany and Great Britain were damaged as they bickered over

markets in particular colonies in Africa . This is similar to the

friction between the U.S. and Japan unfair trading practices and

closed markets.

Both the U.S. and Great Britain in response to losing markets

toyed with the idea of economic nationalism and tariffs.