Food export trade of the twenty Latin American Republics. Page V 1 5 7 8 14 17 19 19 20 20 24 26 27 28 28 29 30 31 31 32 32 TEXT TABLES 1. Imports of food products into the United States from Latin America___ 7. Imports of bananas into the United States from Latin America 8. Imports of other principal food products into the United States from Latin America__ 9. Comparison of United States cattle numbers and dutiable cattle imports-- 10. Comparison of canned-beef imports and United States inspected slaughter. 11. Comparison of United States federally inspected production and United States imports of canned beef___ 12. United States imports of tapioca, tapioca flour, and cassava_- I. Imports of food products into the United States from Latin America_ II. Imports of principal food products into the United States by countries from Latin America, 1939. 35 35 III. Value of United States exports of food products to Latin American countries. 36 I. United States exports of food products to Argentina. II. United States exports of food products to Bermuda- III. United States exports of food products to Brazil... IV. United States exports of food products to Colombia.. V. United States exports of food products to Costa Rica.... VI. United States exports of food products to Cuba-- VII. United States exports of food products to Dominican Republic__ VIII. United States exports of food products to French West Indies.......... IX. United States exports of food products to Guatemala.. X. United States exports of food products to Honduras_. XI. United States exports of food products to Jamaica. XII. United States exports of food products to Mexico.. XIII. United States exports of food products to Netherlands West Indies. XIV. United States exports of food products to Panama (including XV. United States exports of food products to Peru.......... XVI. United States exports of food products to Venezuela. I. Imports of butter into Latin America by principal sources of supply. II. Imports of preserved milk (condensed, evaporated, and dried) into FOREWORD Lower values for coffee and sugar, the two principal food exports from Latin America to the United States, have probably been the most outstanding features of the trend in foodstuffs trade between the United States and Latin American countries during the past 15 years. The resulting reduction in purchasing power in many Latin American countries has seriously affected imports of all classes of merchandise, including foodstuffs, into the various areas. In this analysis of inter-American trade in food products, the years 1926, 1932, 1938, and 1939 have been selected as the bases for study1926 because it is frequently considered a normal year; 1932 because it represents about the bottom of the depression; and 1938 and 1939 because they are the two most recent years. Each political subdivision of Latin America is included in the study. For the 20 Republics, food exports to all countries in 1939 amounted roughly to three-quarters of a billion dollars and accounted for 40 percent of their total export trade, thus reflecting the agricultural character of Latin America. In 1938 the countries of continental Europe took about 25 percent of the total food exports of these Republics, Germany alone accounting for more than 10 percent of the total. The United States in that year took about 40 percent of the total; the United Kingdom about 20 percent; and trade between the Republics themselves accounted for about 5 percent. The remaining 10 percent was widely scattered to other parts of the world. This study was prepared in the Foodstuffs Division under the supervision of F. H. Rawls, Chief, and C. E. Birgfeld, Assistant Chief. Commodity analyses were made by the several specialists in the Foodstuffs Division, and compilation of statistics was under the direction of John A. Monroe. NOVEMBER 1940. JAMES W. YOUNG, Director, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. FOODSTUFFS TRADE WITH LATIN AMERICA INTRODUCTION Shipments of food products from Latin America to the United States are characterized by concentration of the greater part of the trade in a limited number of countries and by the relatively few products involved. Cuba, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Guatemala, in the order named, were the principal suppliers to the United States Figure 1.-Imports of food products into the United States from Latin America-1939. in 1939 and together accounted for five-sixths of the total. Similarly, five products-coffee, sugar, bananas, cocoa beans, and canned beef represented five-sixths of the total trade. During the past 15 years the United States has obtained roughly one-half of its food imports from the countries of Latin America. On a value basis the United States took a little less than half of its total food imports from Latin America in 1939, whereas in 1926 more than |