rose from approximately 48,000,000 pounds in 1936 to 77,000,000 pounds in 1937, decreased to 23,000,000 pounds; imports of inedible oil fell off from 43,000,000 pounds to 4,000,000 pounds. Imports of rice, including flour, decreased from 89,000,000 in 1937 to 23,000,000 pounds in 1938.

Imports of diamonds from the Netherlands also show a marked drop from 1937 to 1938. In the early part of last year the demand for jewel stones in the United States was slack; moreover, purchases of uncut stones and industrial diamonds were not largely credited to the cutting centers of Europe as in former years. Consequently, the statistics for the diamond imports in table 26 show a value of $2,904,000 in 1938, compared with a value of nearly $9,400,000 in 1937.

Other leading commodities imported from the Netherlands in 1938 included leaf tobacco, tulip bulbs, tin, ammonium sulphate, and leather, in the order named. The values of these products ranged from slightly over a million dollars to approximately $2,900,000. While there was some reduction in the quantity of many products imported into the United States from the Netherlands in 1938, the declines were generally less marked than in diamonds and the food products. Omitting diamonds and foods, imports of other products from the Netherlands declined approximately one-fourth from 1937 to 1938. A wide variety of products that range in value from a few hundred thousand dollars to less than a million dollars annually represent a large proportion of our imports from the Netherlands. Imports from the Netherlands in 1938 were 1.6 percent of our total imports.

On the basis of the Netherlands trade statistics, the participation of the United States is relatively much larger than participation of the Netherlands in our trade. Imports into the Netherlands from the United States in 1938 represented 10.8 percent of their total imports, and their exports to the United States were 3.5 percent of their total exports to all countries. As a source of imports into the Netherlands, the United States stands third, following the neighbor countries Germany and Belgium; as a destination, the United States is the sixth most important customer.

Table 26.-Principal Commodities in Trade of the United States With the

Netherlands

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.

Table 26.-Principal Commodities in Trade of the United States With the Netherlands-Continued

Table 26.-Principal Commodities in Trade of the United States With the Netherlands-Continued

2 Not shown separately.

5,809

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

NORTHERN COUNTRIES

That part of Europe known as the "Northern Countries" (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland) has taken a larger proportion of United States exports in recent years than in the late 1920's. Whereas the percentage of the total purchased by Europe as a unit has declined, the four countries Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Fin

land-took 4 percent of total exports from the United States in 1938, as compared with less than 3 percent in 1928 and 1929 and 3.5 percent in 1937. They purchased United States merchandise to the value of nearly $124,000,000 in 1938. United States exports to both Norway and Sweden in 1938 were larger in value than the average for the years 1928 and 1929; but those to Finland were lower by more than one-fourth and those to Denmark were down nearly one-half in comparison with the earlier period.

Norway, Sweden, and Finland have not resorted in recent years to strict governmental control of foreign trade through exchange regulations, quota systems, or other means of import restriction as have many other European countries. Under the trade agreement

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1901-1905 1906–1910 | 1911 - 1915 | 1916-1920 | 1921-1925 | 1926-1930|1931-1935 1936-1940
Figure 20.-Trade of the United States With Sweden.

in effect between the United States and Sweden since August 1935, concessions were accorded by each country on various products. While the present high level of our trade is due in large part to the favorable economic conditions in these three countries, it reflects also the beneficial character of a relatively unhampered flow of goods. The Danish Government, which has for some years been closely regulating imports and diverting them to countries affording the largest markets for Danish agricultural products (especially to the United Kingdom and Germany), removed in 1938 the import-permit restrictions from many foodstuffs and raw materials.

The United States statistics of exports in this report are to be considered as somewhat understating the trade with this area, in view of the fact that a considerable amount of United States goods is purchased indirectly. The import statistics of these several countries consistently show a larger value of imports of United States goods than appears in the United States export statistics-a variance which is due only in part to the difference in the basis of valuation. The statistics of each country are given in the Foreign Commerce Yearbook, published by the United States Department of Commerce.

United States imports from these four countries were, likewise, a larger proportion of the total imports into the United States in 1938 than in the late 1920's. Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland together provided goods valued at $82,000,000, or more than 4 percent of our total imports in 1938. In both 1928 and 1929 these countries supplied 2 percent of our total imports, and in 1937 they supplied 3.5 percent. While the value of total imports from the area was one-fourth smaller in 1938 than in 1937, the 1938 total was only 4 percent under the average value in the years 1928 and 1929. Export Commodities.

The principal United States products exported directly to each of the "Northern Countries" are machinery and automobiles. These

items, comprising roughly a third of the total United States exports to the area in 1938, showed a slight increase in value as compared with 1937.

With the increase in motor-vehicle transportation in the area, United States exports of gasoline and other motor fuel have grown substantially in recent years. The exports of petroleum and petroleum products in 1938 to three of the countries showed marked increases as compared with 1937, and to the fourth were only slightly under that year's high figure.

Exports of vegetable foodstuffs to each country of this area increased substantially in 1938. The United States supplied a larger proportion of each country's grain imports in 1938 than in several of the preceding years and also increased amounts of fruits.

The principal class of United States exports which showed declines in 1938 was metals and metal manufactures. These countries always import a considerable amount of the common grades of steel, usually from the United Kingdom and Germany. In 1937, with the European