July 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



537 



FOREIGN COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



IMPORTS INTO THE UNITED STATES IN 1913. 

 IN the form of a neat pamphlet of 48 pages the Department of 

 "^ Commerce has lately issued its annual review of the foreign 

 commerce of the United States for the fiscal year 1913. Both 

 imports and exports were the largest on record, the figures 

 heing respectively 1,813 million dollars against 1,654 million in 

 1912, and 2,466 million against 2,204 million in that year. 



Compared witli previous years the principal results are as fol- 

 lows: 



IMPORTS— IN MILLIONS OF DOLL.ARS. 



Percentage 

 Free. Dutiable. Total. Free. 



1880 208 460 668 31.19 



1890 266 524 790 33.66 



1900 367 483 850 43.21 



1910 755 802 1,557 48,51 



1913 988 825 1,813 54.47 



FEATURES OF 1913 IMPORTS. 



The year 1913 showed an increased percentage of goods enter- 

 ing free of duty, being 54.47 per cent., as compared witli 31.19 

 per cent, in 1880, the average ad valorem rate of duty in 1913 

 having been 40.05 per cent., against 49.24 per cent, in 190O. .\n 

 analysis of the returns shows for 1913 an aggregate import of 

 manufacturers' raw materials of 635.2 million dollars, forming 

 35 per cent, of the total, as compared with 276.2 million in 

 1900, which represented 32.5 per, cent, of the whole. Manufac- 

 tures for further use in manufacturing, showing in 1900 imports 

 of 134.2 million, or 15.8 per cent, jof the total, had risen l)y 1913 

 to 349.4 million dollars, or 19.3 per cent. 



While the fiscal year ending June 30, 1913, showed a propor- 

 tion of free goods of 54.47 per cent., estimates for the later 

 .Tionths of 1913 indicate that the percentage had risen to 61.36 

 per cent, for October, to 61.72 per cent, for November, and to 

 63.86 per cent, for December. The effects of the new tariff 

 which went into effect on October 3. 1913, are plainly seen in 

 these results. 



RUBBER IMPORTS. 

 In the order of their present importance, the imports of the 

 ten principal raw materials for use in manufacturing formed in 

 1913 about 575 million dollars out of a grand total of 635 million. 

 The following condensed tal)le shows in succinct form the his- 

 tory of those industries for practically the last half century, as 

 regards importations of materials to this country for manufac- 

 turing purposes : 



UNITED STATES IMPORTS— IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. 



1870. 1880. 1890. 1900. 1910. 1913. 



Hides and skins 14.4 30.0 21.9 57.9 112.2 117.4 



India rulibcr and substitutes 3.5 9.6 14.9 33.0 106.9 101.3 



Raw silk 3.0 12.0 23.2 44.5 65.4 82.1 



Copper ore, pigs, etc 2 1.0 .4 15.4 40.2 59.5 



Tin in bars, blocks, etc. . . 2.0 6.2 7.0 19.1 30.9 53.1 



Tobacco, leaf 2.5 4.9 17.6 13.3 27.8 35.9 



Wool, raw 6.7 23.7 15.3 20.3 51.2 35.6 



Cotton, raw 0.3 0.6 1.4 7.9 15.8 23.0 



Wood 0.7 2.9 4.3 6.0 15.2 18.0 



Fibers (unmanufactured). 6.0 9.4 20.5 26.4 32.4 49.1 



Total 39.3 100.3 126.5 243.8 498.0 575.0 



India rubber and substitutes thus ranked second in order of 

 value. Of the 101 million dollars' worth of ruliber and sub- 

 stitutes imported in 1913. about 90 million was in crude rubber, 

 about half of which came from Europe, and the balance direct 

 from tropical sources. 



South American contributions to the imports of the United 

 States include in 1913 in crude rubber: Brazil, 26 million; 



I xuador and Colombia, half a million ; Peru, half a million, and 

 Venezuela, half a million, including balata. 



FEATURES OF UNITED STATES EXPORT STATISTICS. 

 While imports have risen since 1880 from 668 million dollars 

 to 1.813 million, the gain in e.\ports during that period has been 

 on a scale of about equal importance — from 836 million to 2,466 

 million, as shown by annexed table. 



UNITED STATES EXPORTS— IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. 



Domestic Foreign Goods, 



Goods. Re-exported. Total. 



1880 824 12 836 



1890 845 13 858 



1900 1,371 23 1,394 



1910 1,710 35 1,745 



1913 2,429 37 2,466 



The principal features of the statistics covering these 33 years 

 :irc the increase in experts of domestic products and the steady 

 decrease in the export of foodstuffs. In 1880 foodstuffs repre- 

 sented 55.77 per cent, of the total exports, and in 1913 only 

 20.72 per cent., while manufacturers' crude materials rose from 

 28.98 per cent, in 1880, to 30.13 per cent, in 1913. Manufactures 

 (exclusive of foodstuffs) show, however, an increase from 14.78 

 |icr cent, in 1880 to 48.80 per cent, in 1913. The growth shown 

 liy manufactures for further use in manufacturing (from 29 

 million in 1880 to 409 luillion in 1913) has been more striking 

 both as to total and percentage than has been the case with 

 linished manufactures. 



Tlie transition of the United -States from an exporter of 

 natural products to one of manufactures has been a steady move- 

 ment during the last third of a century. 



WIDER DISTRIBUTION OF EXPORTS. 

 The above-named development of export trade has been ac- 

 companied by a wider distribution of .'\nierican products, in- 

 dicating the growth of direct relations with countries of con- 

 sumption, as shown in the following table: 



DISTRIBUTION OF EXPORTS. 



1880. 1913. 



Per Cent. Per Cent. 



Europe 86.1 60 



Nortli .America 8.3 25 



South .Xmerica 2.8 5.9 



.\sia 1.4 4.7 



Oceania 0.8 3.2 



Africa 0.6 1.2 



Total 100 100 



EXPORTS OF RUBBER .MANUFACTURES. 

 .\s shown in detail in the May issue (page 412) exports of 

 rubber manufactures were in the fiscal year 1900-1901, $3,017,268; 

 in 1904-1905, H780,S17, and in 1912-1913, $12,511,548. 



THE SULPHUR OUTPUT OF 1913. 



Sulphur to the extent of 311.590 long tons and valued at 

 $5,479,849 was produced in the United States in 1913, an in- 

 crease of 8,118 long tons over the production of 1912, with an in- 

 creased value of $223,429. This was produced in Louisiana, 

 Texas and Wyoming and was the largest yearly output in the 

 history of the United States, whose production is rapidly gaining 

 on that of Sicily, the leading field for sulphur production in the 

 world, whose output for 1913 amounted to 346,213 long tons. 

 The production of sulphuric acid in the United States in 1913 

 was 3,538.890 short tons of 50 degree acid, valued at $22,366,482, 

 an increase of 622,980 short tons over that of 1912. 



