Rivalry
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