網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

AFRICA

After a 4-year period of remarkable expansion in both imports and exports, the foreign trade of the United States with Africa declined appreciably in 1938. Exports to Africa dropped off slightly more than one-fifth from the high value of $152,158,000 recorded in 1937, though the 1938 total of $118,350,000 exceeded the value in all preceding years except 1920, 1929, and 1937. Declines were recorded in 1938 mainly for shipments to the countries in the central and southern part of the continent. The decrease in exports to the Union of South Africa was influenced in part by overbuying of certain United States products in the previous year, although low prices of agricultural products and the change in world demand for diamonds (which varies directly with prosperity) tended to reduce purchasing power in the Union. Gold mining, so largely responsible for the growth in the

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Union's trade and purchasing power since 1933, again established a new high record of production. In addition to the smaller trade with British South Africa, large decreases were recorded for United States exports to the other British territories, to French Africa, and to Portuguese Africa.

The marked variations in the value of our export trade with several countries in Africa during recent years have been substantially influenced by forces unrelated to normal commercial transactions. This was particularly true of exports to Italian Africa and Ethiopia during military operations in the latter country in 1935 and was also true of exports to the Canary Islands and Spanish Africa after the beginning of the Spanish revolution in 1936.

P

Over four-fifths of all exports to Africa in 1938 were, as usual, finished manufactured products. Machinery, automobiles (including motortrucks and parts for cars), petroleum products, metals and metal manufactures, and textiles and textile manufactures were the five largest items of export, in the order named.

Direct general imports from Africa, which amounted to $54,671,000 in 1938, were two-fifths less than the relatively high total of $92,148,000 in 1937. The decline is accounted for mainly by smaller imports from British West Africa (principally of cocoa) and from Egypt (principally of raw cotton). These two commodities and the following items diamonds (in the rough and industrial grades), hides and skins, chrome ore, sisal and henequen fiber, coffee, and undressed furs, named in the order of their import value-made up nearly three-fifths of the 1938 imports.

The United States statistics of direct imports understate, however, our purchases of African products; since at least two of the most important products of that continent, in point of value-gold and cut diamonds are not imported directly in large degree. Some less important products are also imported indirectly-for example, cashew nuts from Portuguese East Africa, which come mostly via India, where they are sent to be shelled.

Table 49.-Trade With Africa, by Commercial Regions and by Countries

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Table 50.-Percentage Distribution and Changes in Trade With Africa, by Commercial Regions and by Countries

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

The statistics in tables 49 and 51 indicate that the merchandise trade of the United States with British South Africa is heavily unbalanced, as imports into the United States from South Africa are much smaller than our exports to that area. However, if the large amounts of gold produced in the Union of South Africa which proceed indirectly through intermediary countries to the United States are taken into account, payments between the two countries come much closer to an even balance than the data on merchandise trade would indicate.

The shipments of diamonds from the Union of South Africa further illustrate the same circumstances. Table 51 shows that imports of diamonds into the United States far exceed those of any other item, and, in fact, represented 53 percent of the total in 1938. Yet the figure in the table covers only part of the shipments, as the major part of the jewel stones from the Union and elsewhere were brought indirectly through Europe in 1938. The cutting of these stones in Europe is enough, statistically, to credit the diamonds to Belgium or the Netherlands and thereby to distort the balance of trade between countries of primary origin and ultimate destination. Prior to 1938 both uncut gems and industrial diamonds were also largely accredited to the European country of transshipment, but in the 1938 statistics these products were accredited largely to the country of origin. The change in the method of reporting imports of diamonds is entirely responsible for the increase shown in the value of total merchandise imported from British South Africa in 1938. If the value of diamonds had been similarly shown in imports for 1937 and other preceding years, the import totals in table 51 would have been much higher.

United States imports of most leading commodities from British South Africa other than diamonds decreased sharply in 1938. These include corn, which reached the unusual figure of 3,583,000 bushels in 1937 and dropped to 26,000 bushels in 1938; and lobsters, which had increased from 248,000 pounds in 1935 to 1,798,000 pounds in 1937, but decreased to 1,373,000 pounds in 1938. Imports of wool, hides, wattle bark and extract, and chrome ore were also substantially smaller in 1938 than in 1937.

The tremendous increase in the value of British South Africa's purchases of United States merchandise (from an average $26,000,000 in 1931-33 to an average $65,400,000 since the latter year) was the

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

D.D. 9170

1901-1905 1906-1910 1911-1915 1916-1920 1921-1925 1926-1930 1931-1935 1936-1940 Figure 37.-Trade of the United States With British South Africa (Not Reported Separately, 1901-02).

result of the increased price for gold, that country's chief product. The purchasing power of the mining industry, and thereby of a large share of the population, was immensely increased. In 1936 the Union of South Africa was the seventh most important customer of the United States; in 1937 and 1938 it was our eleventh largest market.

Of the total United States exports of $71,763,000 to British South Africa in 1938, $49,522,000, or slightly over two-thirds, consisted of metals and machinery, a part of which represented purchases by mining interests. The shipment of 52,250 household refrigerators and 61,322 passenger automobiles in two years, to a population of 2,000,000 whites, exemplifies their high purchasing power.

In 1938 British South Africa was the destination of 2.3 percent of the exports from the United States; and, from the opposite viewpoint, the United States furnished 14.6 percent of the Union's imports. The American percentage share of the Union's exports is not shown because of the factor of indirect shipments of gold and diamonds.

Table 51.-Principal Commodities in Trade of the United States With British South Africa

NOTE-Data for individual export items include only United States products. Import commodities are "general imports" in 1929 and 1932 and "imports for consumption" in 1937 and 1938.

[blocks in formation]
« 上一頁繼續 »