Table 5.-Percentage Distribution and Changes in Trade With Principal Latin American Countries

Latin America, total ..

18.5 13.3 18. 2 25.1 27.0 24.8-41.9+162. 5 -11.8 -56.1 +35.7-31.2

8.2 7.3 8.5 10.6 11.8 11.4-38.7+123. 5 -17.6 52.3 +42. 1-21.3
2.6 2.0 2.0 2.7
1.7 1.9 1.6

-.4

2.5-53.7 +94.4-43.3-58.4 +31.0-18.4
1. 7-44.5 +65.4
-24.6 +37.9-10.7
5.4-40.8+165. 5-17.3 -49.0 +81.2-28.6

Southern North America 1..
Mexico.

2.8

Central America.

1.0 1.8

2.8

North Coast South America..

1.4 3.1

Colombia

1.3

Venezuela

1.8
.9 .7
2.4 4.6
.9 .6 1.7 1.2 1.5

3.6 6.2

3.7 -1.5+333. 8
2. 5-16. 6+283.0

1 For purposes of comparison, the Virgin Islands are excluded in this table for all years shown. 2 Less than one-tenth of 1 percent.

3 Over 1,000 percent increase.

Table 6.-United States Exports to the Latin American Republics (Including the Canal Zone) by Commodity Groups and by Principal Commodities

Table 6.—United States Exports to the Latin American Republics (Including the Canal Zone) by Commodity Groups and by Principal Commodities—Continued

Table 7.-Imports Into the United States From the Latin American Republics (Including the Canal Zone) by Commodity Groups and by Principal Commodities

Animals and animal products, inedible.
Hides and skins.

Vegetable food products and beverages.

Corn..

1, 014, 128 500, 561 656, 243 447, 398 637, 623 287, 703 407, 869 259, 307

23. 1 20.7 21.8 22.9 14.5. 11.9 13.6 13.3 27, 958 13, 608 7,084 1,934 8,375 61, 162 29, 814

11, 273

16, 482
2,407

14, 754 17, 870 10, 834 12, 577 9,867

3, 332

9, 155

8, 388

11, 273

34, 606

14, 175

54, 817

8,375 27, 381

9, 155 8,388 31, 394 11,862

26, 283

9,791

48, 436 21, 837 535, 368 310, 330 388, 648 276, 000 292, 154 403 12, 126 50, 766 232 192 30, 810 28, 270 30, 964 28, 501 1,369 2,271 2,676 2,995 2,541 (1) 2, 345 2,486 2,257 19, 075 14,752 20, 800 12, 108 12, 816 294, 120 127, 989 143, 900 133, 770 274, 425 110, 358 122, 072 115, 690 159, 210 98, 213 106, 896 79, 721 18 212, 435 10, 168 14, 046 6, 648

24,351 8,733

203, 655 135, 935

Other vegetable food products and

1 32
15, 795 10, 222 1,031 2.945
69, 545 45, 369 57, 174 31, 081
2,585 1,991
3, 635 2,046

42

2,727

7
458 3,225
1,684 (1) 1,935

2

Table 7.-Imports Into the United States From the Latin American Republics (Including the Canal Zone) by Commodity Groups and by Principal Commodities-Continued

4 Includes dutiable copper, and copper imported duty-free from Cuba.

CENTRAL AMERICA

While United States exports to Costa Rica and Honduras increased considerably in value in 1938, those to Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Panama decreased. For the area as a whole, there was

5

|1901-1905 1906-1910 1911 -1915 1916-1920 1921-1925 1926-1930 1931-1935 1936-1940

Figure 4.-Trade of the United States with Central America.

0.0.9135

a slight decline, with exports amounting to $50,397,000. The principal changes in trade by commodities involved a reduction in the value of flour exports, owing to lower prices, and increases in shipments of lard and cotton cloth. Exports of other principal commodities to the area as a whole fluctuated only moderately in comparison with the figures of the preceding year.

Economic conditions in 5 of the 6 countries of Central America were considerably less favorable in 1938 than in 1937. Only in Costa Rica, where the coffee crop is of a grade that does not directly compete with Brazilian coffee, was business relatively prosperous. In Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, business activity was greatly influenced by the lower price of coffee. In Honduras the declining position of the banana industry as a result of plant disease and in Panama the falling off in tourist traffic were principal retarding influences.

It should be noted that the nominal shipments to Panama shown in table 8 include merchandise destined for the Canal Zone. These latter goods have been reported separately only since January 1, 1938, and consequently cannot be shown separately in tables which cover a number of years. In 1938, total United States exports to the Republic of Panama amounted to $10,165,000, while those to the Canal Zone aggregated $14,238,000.

Table 8.-Principal Commodities in Trade of the United States With Central
America

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. Panama includes Canal Zone.

Table 8.-Principal Commodities in Trade of the United States With Central America Continued