League sanctions and foreign trade restrictions in Italy

The remarkable shrinkage in the volume of Italy's export trade during the depression and the consequent unbalance in the country's international accounts, caused, in 1934, the adoption of the elaborate system of import licenses, quotas and exchange controls described in this article. When the League of Nations economic sanctions were imposed in November, 1935, Italy consequently had at her disposal a well developed machinery for the control of her foreign trade. This machinery was effectively used by the Italian government in retaliating against the import limitations of sanctionist countries and in endeavoring to avoid dangerous unbalances in Italy's own trade accounts. While the volume of Italian exports was greatly reduced by the sanctions, Italy succeeded, mainly through the government's policy of drastic import limitation, in maintaining her commercial balance virtually unchanged. After the abandonment of sanctions the outlook for an early return to normal international trade relations in Italy remains unfavorable; for stringent trade and exchange limitations are being continued in force by the fascist government in an effort to achieve a stable commercial balance and a maximum of economic self-sufficiency and of political independence.