Imports of merchandise from Peru declined about 17 percent in value in 1938, largely as a result of the lower price of copper and a reduction in our purchases of mohair and goat and kid skins as compared with 1937. United States imports of Peruvian gold and silver, which are not included in the merchandise figures shown in table 15, increased, however, from $9,902,000 in 1937 to $11,418,000 in 1938.

Table 15.-Principal Commodities in Trade of the United States With Peru 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.

938

7 perte

Copper

kins as

Table 15.-Principal Commodities in Trade of the United States With Peru-Con.

Commodity

With Per

570

28 1, 106 530

Drugs, herbs, roots, etc..

do.

Cotton, raw_

ort comm

Hair of the Cashmere goat, alpaca, etc.

(actual weight).

..1,000 lb..

Cabinet woods, principally

mahogany, in

-1,000 bd. ft..

1,000 bbl..

1,454 120

3,233

102

Copper ore, concentrates, regulus

Lead ore and bullion..

do... 42, 411
do____

1, 196

51

Zinc ore.

do..

4,280 3,580
4,866 9,879

11,800 416

All other..

1,376 163

1 Figures for 1929 and 1932 have not been adjusted for minor transfers in classifications of later years. Less than 500.

URUGUAY

United States trade with Uruguay decreased more than three-fifths in 1938 as compared with 1937. The value of general imports dropped slightly below the export total, whereas there had been an import balance in the trade during each year from 1934 through 1937. Practically all principal commodities were exported in decidedly smaller quantities and values in 1938, particularly as compared with 1937 but also with reference to other recent years. Automobile exports were less than a fifth as large in value as in 1937, and exports of electrical apparatus were barely one-fourth as large. Nevertheless, the group of machinery, automobiles, and electrical apparatus comprised, as usual, nearly one-half of the 1938 total. An unusually sharp decrease occurred in the exports of cotton yarns and fabrics, which, after reaching a value of $374,000 in 1937, dropped off to less than $12,000 in 1938.

The decrease in the value of imports from Uruguay was due primarily to smaller purchases of wool during 1938 and the decline in wool prices. Imports of Uruguayan canned meats were also smaller in quantity and in value than in 1937. Imports of flaxseed, which is not usually a large item in the trade, totaled 892,000 bushels valued at over a million dollars in 1938.

The marked decline in United States export trade with Uruguay was largely the result of a drastic curtailment in the allocation of exchange for American merchandise. With the decline in United States imports of Uruguayan products, the Uruguayan Government, in accordance with its bilateral balancing policy, allotted only limited amounts of free and compensated exchange for the purchase of United States merchandise. The operation of the exchange system of Uruguay resulted, in 1938, in a decrease in United States exports to that country greatly exceeding the decline experienced in Uruguay's trade with the world. Uruguay's total trade in 1938 showed only a 3 percent decrease on the side of exports and an 8 percent decrease in the value of imports.

Table 16.-Principal Commodities in Trade of the United States With Uruguay 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.

1 Less than 500.

2 Figures for 1929 and 1932 have not been adjusted for minor transfers in classifications of later years.

3 Household refrigerators only.

1,373

17

309

531

318 18, 496

1,731

17 665 260
423
5,854

90

483

1,454

337

340

118

With Ura

VENEZUELA

United States exports to Venezuela in 1938 increased 13 percent in comparison with 1937 to a new high figure of $52,278,000, or more than double the 1936 total. From January through July the value of exports was 32 percent higher than in the corresponding period of 1937. The decline in the trade after July canceled some of the increase, for in each month from August through December the export value was below that in the corresponding month of 1937.

Continued expansion in Venezuelan petroleum production, which has been the most important factor affecting the general economic situation in that country for some years, provided the principal impetus for the growth in exports. There was notable work in the exploration and development of new fields in 1938, and petroleum production in MILLIONS OF DOLLARS (Logarithmic Scale)

100

60

2

714

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

Figure 12.-Trade of the United States With Venezuela.

0.0.9143

Venezuela rose to a record total of approximately 187,370,000 barrels. Purchases of supplies by American petroleum companies in 1938 were, as usual, a large proportion of the United States export total.

Business activity in Venezuela and purchases in the United States were influenced in both 1937 and 1938 by the Government's publicworks program, which was scheduled to move forward in broader scope on July 1, 1938. Especially during the first half of 1938, importers' purchases of United States goods reflected the anticipated demands of this program. However, delay in carrying out the announced public-works projects, coupled with reduced returns for agricultural exports, slowed down commercial activity in Venezuela as well as imports of United States merchandise during the closing months of the year.

Agriculture in Venezuela continued depressed in 1938, principally by reason of low prices and adverse weather conditions affecting the important coffee and cocoa industries.

Export Commodities.

United States exports of machinery and vehicles to Venezuela in 1938 amounted to $25,016,000, as compared with $22,268,000 in 1937. These two groups of products comprised, as usual, nearly half the

export total. Metals and manufactures, the second largest export group in 1938, rose to a value of $10,145,000. Exports of edible and inedible animal products, vegetable food products, nonmetallic minerals, and chemicals also showed advances in 1938.

Import Commodities.

Direct merchandise imports from Venezuela amounted to $20,032,000 in 1938 as compared with $22,770,000 in 1937, a decrease of 12 percent. The decline was largely accounted for by smaller imports of goat and kid skins, cacao, and coffee.

About four-fifths of the direct imports consisted of 23,564,000 barrels of crude petroleum, imports of which decreased only moderately to a value of $16,541,000 in 1938. The fact should not be overlooked, however, that an additional part of the Venezuelan production is indirectly received in the United States. A large percentage of the petroleum products accredited in our statistics to the Netherlands West Indies is produced from Venezuelan crude shipped to Aruba and Curacao for refining.

Coffee, valued at $1,963,000, the second most important commodity imported directly from Venezuela, reached a relatively high figure in 1936, but declined materially in both 1937 and 1938. Imports of Venezuelan cacao declined from 14,875,000 pounds in 1937 to 10,064,000 pounds in 1938, with a drop in value from $1,695,000 to $759,000. The percentage decrease in quantity was greater than that for our total cacao imports, but the value decline was somewhat less than that for the total. Imports of goat and kid skins were also greatly reduced in 1938 as compared with the imports in other recent

years.

Table 17.-Principal Commodities in Trade of the United States With Venezuela 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.