Japanese Trade Studies, Special Industry Analysis No. 18 - Potassium Salts

Report prepared for the Foreign Economic Administration by a member of the staff of the United States Tariff Commission. This study focuses on the role of Potassium Salts in Japan's economy. Entered as Defense Document 500-A-18. Handwritten note states "Reproduce all. Smith." Describes how potassium salts were important for industry and in agriculture as fertilizer. During the war, Japan's supply lines were cut so by 1942 "the supply became so acute that potassium salts were put on the critical list and every effort was made to increase domestic output." Predicts that in the post-war era, "restriction on Japanese industry will tend to reduce the demand for potassium salts by industry and the curtailment of Japanese silk production and the likely general scarcity of foreign exchange might force Japanese agriculture to rely to a greater extent on 'self-supply' to provide its available potash (K2O)." As a result, "although potassium salts are important to the Japanese civilian economy,