Page 13. Quarterly and monthly indexes of changes in quantity, unit value (price) and value of imports, by economic classes..... 14. Percentage distribution of exports of United States merchandise, by economic classes and by principal commodities, 1926-39.... 38 40 40 41 15. Percentage distribution of imports, by economic classes 17. Agricultural exports, by major groups of commodities, 192639...... 41 41 42 18. Agricultural imports, by major groups of commodities, 1926-39. 19. Exports of leading commodities. 20. Supplement to tables 7 and 19: Exports by economic classes and leading commodities during last 4 months of 1937, 1938, and 1939..... 21. Imports of leading commodities. 22. Supplement to tables 7 and 21: Imports by economic ......... GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF FOREIGN TRADE 26. Exports (including reexports) and general imports of merchandise, by continents and by countries, 1926-39.... 27. Percent increase or decrease in foreign trade, by continents and leading countries.... 28. Supplement to tables 26 and 27: Exports (including reexports) and general imports by continents and principal countries during last 4 months of 1937, 1938, and 1939.. 29. Percentage distribution of exports and imports, by continents and by leading countries, 1926-30 average and 1936-39... 30. Balance of United States trade, by continents and regions, 1926-30 average and 1936-39.... 31. Distribution of trade with continents, by quarters, 1937-39.... 32. Trade with trade-agreement countries and with nonagreement countries, 1938-39 and comparison of 1938-39 average with 1934-35 average... 33. Value of export and import trade with countries with which trade agreements have been concluded or announced for negotiation, and percentage of total United States trade... 43 44 45 46 48 52 58 62 63 64 65 65 66 34. Foreign trade with each continent, by economic classes; total and agricultural....... 35. Supplement to table 36: Percentage of each economic class in adjusted exports to North America and to Europe... 66 67 68 36. Percentage of each economic class and of agricultural and nonagricultural commodities in the total trade with each continent...... 37. Percent each continent takes or furnishes of total trade in each economic class and of total agricultural and nonagricultural commodities.... 38. Exports of leading commodities to principal trade regions, 1938 and 1939.... 39. Imports of leading commodities from principal trade regions, 1938 and 1939.... 40. Exports to Latin America (20 Republics, including Canal Zone) by commodity groups and by principal commodities, 1937-39.. .... 41. Imports from Latin America (20 Republics, including Canal Zone) by commodity groups and by principal commodities, 1937-39..... ........ Page 69 70 71 72 73 74 42. Production of movable goods, and proportion exported in each census year, 1909-39... 75 75 43. Exports of leading commodities in relation to production, 1923, 1929, 1933, and 1939..... NOTE The merchandise statistics in this bulletin designated as "general imports" include commodities entered immediately upon arrival into merchandising or consumption channels plus commodities entered into bonded customs warehouses for storage, while "imports for consumption" include merchandise entered immediately upon arrival into merchandising or consumption channels plus withdrawals from bonded customs warehouses. The values stated in this bulletin are in United States dollars without reference to changes in the gold content of the dollar (the statutory price of gold, $20.67 an ounce, in effect prior to January 31, 1934, was changed on that date by Executive order to $35 an ounce). Previous issues of the Bureau's annual series Foreign Trade of the United States in the Calendar Year were issued as Trade Information Bulletins Nos. 104, 225, 332, 387, 460, 537, 602, 684, 749, and 808, and Trade Promotion Series Nos. 151, 156, 162, 166, 174, and 198. Previous issues of the annual series Summary of United States Trade with World were issued as Trade Information Bulletins Nos. 791, 822,831, 837, and 839. FOREWORD This bulletin, the eighteenth issue of an annual series, summarizes the outstanding developments in United States foreign trade in 1939, and provides comparative statistics for recent years. Text and tables deal primarily with the principal products exported and imported, and the relative importance of countries as markets for United States products or as suppliers of imports. Major emphasis is placed upon the shifts that occurred in both the commodity and country trade. Abnormal demands resulting from preparedness and later actual warfare in Europe were a feature of the export trade during much of the year. In the import trade, the steady expansion reflècted rising domestic business volumes. Early in the year war preparations abroad were apparent in the character of our export trade, although in the aggregate the value did not expand to any marked degree until the final quarter. After September, purchases by European countries were more and more concentrated in those commodities deemed essential under wartime conditions. The British blockade of Germany, as well as the control of imports by belligerents, showed its effect on trade in both directions. A secondary effect of the European war is evidenced in the increased demand for manufactured products, particularly from South America, after the outbreak of the war. European sources of supply were curtailed or cut off, and many countries turned to United States sources. To facilitate study of such influences, certain of the tables and accompanying text analyses treat separately the data covering the first 4 months of the war -the period from September through December 1939. The annual review of foreign trade for 1939 is confined to the summary data in this bulletin. No publication will be issued for 1939 corresponding to part II of the 1938 bulletin which reviewed the commodity trade by regions and individual countries. Separate statements on trade of the United States with leading countries in 1939 by principal commodities, issued early this year, may be obtained from the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. This bulletin was prepared by the Division of Foreign Trade Statistics, under the general supervision of Bernard Barton, Chief. Grace A. Witherow, who was responsible for the text and the arrangement of the report, had the benefit of suggestions from specialists in other divisions. AUGUST 1940 JAMES W. YOUNG, Director Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce SUMMARY OF FOREIGN TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES CALENDAR YEAR 1939 INTRODUCTION The value of total United States exports advanced from $3,094,000,000 in 1938 to $3,177,000,000 in 1939, a gain of only 3 percent. This gain is slight because of the relatively low figures recorded for exports of both manufactured articles and agricultural products in the opening months of 1939. Although the monthly values of total exports increased substantially during the yearfrom $213,000,000 in January to $368,000,000 in December—they moved considerably above the corresponding 1938 figures only in the final months. Nevertheless, the 1939 total represents the largest volume of export trade for any year since 1929 and, except for 1937, the largest dollar value since 1930. The monthly totals of exports through May were lower than in the corresponding months of 1938, although, during the first quarter, the influences of intensified armament programs in Europe and the consequent industrial activity offset some of the retarding factors and produced increases in a number of our exportsnotably machine tools and aircraft-and soon thereafter in iron and steel, nonferrous metals, industrial chemicals, and various other manufactures. Beginning in August, exports of cotton increased over the low level of the preceding year, and, chiefly as a result of the increased shipments of manufactured articles and of cotton, the total value of United States exports was more than one-fifth larger in the period September-December (the period immediately following the outbreak of war in Europe) than in the corresponding 4 months of 1938. (Figure 2.) The import trade in 1939 was larger in each month with the exception of February than in the corresponding month of 1938, and the year's total advanced 18 percent to $2,318,000,000. The sharp rise in business activity in the United States during the latter half of the year led to so great an increase in imports of crude materials and semimanufactured articles that total imports of these two classes of commodities in the last quarter were more than two-fifths higher in value than in the corresponding period of 1938. The disparity between the value of exports and imports was reduced in 1939 as compared with 1938, but exports were, |