6 EXPORTS OF FAEM AND FOREST PRODUCTS, 1909-11. 



The value of foreign exports when shipped directly from bonded warehouses (usually 

 dutiable goods) is their import value, but when not shipped from bonded warehouses 

 (usually free goods) the value is determined in the same manner as that of domestic 

 exports. 



Goods in transit through the United States from one foreign country to another are 

 valued in the same manner as imports. 



Valuation deceptions. The value of imported articles subject to ad valorem duties is 

 believed to be determined with more accuracy, according to the legal method of valua- 

 tion, than the value of imports with specific duties or free of duty, or the value of 

 exported articles; the valuations of dutiable imports and of exports dutiable in foreign 

 countries tend to understatement; and the valuations of imports that are free of duty 

 are liable to inflation for the purpose of trade deception. 



WEIGHTS. In the official trade returns of the United States the weights of articles 

 exported are usually net weights, and also the weights of all imports, except those 

 which are subject to a specific duty levied upon the weight of the packages, including 

 the weight of the article itself, together with some or all of its coverings. 



All tons mentioned in this bulletin, except where it is otherwise stated, are long tons 

 of 2,240 pounds. 



DISCREPANCIES IN FOREIGN TRADE STATISTICS of various countries are partly due to 

 different methods of estimating values, of determining countries of origin and destina- 

 tion, and of classifying merchandise, and to differences in dates. The United States 

 does not regard a c. i. f. value (cost, insurance, freight) as the va\ue of either exports 

 or imports (except some foreign exports), while the United Kingdom, for instance, 

 includes these in the value of its imports. It is said that these charges are often erro- 

 neously included by British shippers in their statement of export values, especially 

 when the selling price includes insurance and freight. 



In consequence of various sources of discrepancy, it is generally futile to undertake 

 to balance an export of this country by any official statement of import into a foreign 

 country, and often there is not an approximate agreement. 



NONCONTIGUOUS POSSESSIONS. The "noncontiguous" possessions of, the United 

 States are all those not included between Canada on the north and Mexico and the 

 Gulf of Mexico on the south, and between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. 



The trade returns of all the possessions of this country, except the Philippine Islands, 

 are included in the total trade of the United States. In the trade statistics for any 

 noncontiguous possession, all other noncontiguous possessions, except the Philippine 

 Islands, are included with the United States; thus, shipments from Hawaii to Porto 

 Rico are included in the total shipments from Hawaii to the United States. 



ABBREVIATION. "n. e. s."=not elsewhere specified. 



