Anglo-Egyptian trade policy is based on free…
1916 CE
Lord Cromer himself describes the effects of the import of European manufactures on local craft production.
He notes that quarters of the city that had been "hives of busy workmen" have shrunk or been eliminated entirely. Cafes and small stores selling European goods replace productive workshops.
Egyptian industrialization will require protective tariffs that the British will not allow.
Thus, although Egypt has a solid infrastructure, a sizeable local market, and an indigenous supply of capital, industrial development is stymied by a British trade policy that seeks to protect the Egyptian market for British products and to maintain Britain's near monopoly on Egyptian cotton.