United States Trade with Cuba. 93 



Some information as to the trade of the United States 

 with Cuba has been recently pub- 

 United States lished by the American Department 

 Trade . 

 with Cuba Agriculture, from which it appears 



that while the trade up to the year 1893 

 showed a steady increase, there has been since that year a 

 considerable decline. The imports from Cuba have generally 

 been much in excess of the exports to that island, the balance 

 of trade being decidedly against the United States. During 

 the ten years 1887- 1896 the value of the merchandise imported 

 averaged 12,327,000 per annum, and that of the merchandise 

 exported only 2,920,000. Among the products imported 

 from Cuba to the United States, sugar is by far the most 

 important, constituting more than 75 per cent, of the total 

 value ; the other agricultural products include leaf tobacco, 

 fruit and nuts, hides and skins, bones, beeswax, honey, 

 vegetables and vegetable fibres. Of the exports to Cuba 

 from the States, about 45 per cent, have during the past five 

 years been agricultural, the most important items being lard 

 and breadstuffs, which make up nearly three-fourths of the 

 total. The breadstuff export was chiefly wheat flour, with 

 some maize ; in the year 1893 the total value amounted to 

 ;£73 2,000. The other agricultural exports are potatoes, 

 vegetables, and dairy products. 



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