Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-30
TRADE WITH MEXICO
ONLY CANADA SENDS MORE
THERE THAN THIS COUNTRY.
Only Cuba Takes More Products From
There Than the United States
Effect Of Railways.

The recent announcement of a PROPOSED
new form of currency for Mexico lends es-
peciai interest to some figures just compiled
by the Department of Commerce and La
DOR, through its bureau of statistics, re-
garding the commerce between the United
States and Mexico. These figures show
the exports from the United States 10 Mex
leo have grown from $13OCO,O0O in 1890 to
SIG, GOO in 1904, speaking in round terms !;
and that the imports into the United States
from Mexico have grown from $23 CO., 600 i'll
1850 to $44.OO0,OO0 in 1904. Thus our ex-
ports to Mexico in 1904 were three and one
half times as great as in 1890 and our Inn
ports from Mexico practically twice as great
as in that year
AT even more interesting fact is found
in comparison % the figures of Mexican
trade with the United States with the total
trade of Mexico. These show that of the
imports into Mexico in the latest year for
which information is available the United
States supplied 50 per cent of the total i'm
ports, and that of the exports from Mexico
as per cent was sent to the United States.
Composition of the Trade.
The principal classes of merchandise
forming our exports to Mexico are iron and
steel manufactures, coal, manufactured
cotton, lumber, manufactured wood. cars
and carriages, breadstuffs. wood manufac-
lures; chemicals, drugs and dyes; copper
and manufactures thereof, mineral oils. pro-
visions. and leather and manufactures
thereof.
The principal articles imported int, the
United States from Mexico are fibers. most
~ sisal grass; copper pigs bars and in
gots; lead in ore and base bulli1n; hides
and skins, coffee and cattle.
Mexico takes from the United States 4
larger share of her total imports than any
other country in the world except Canada,
which takes 60 per cent of her imports from
the United States; and Mexico sends 20 the
United States also a larger share Of her
exports than any other country of the
world except Cuba, of whose exports dur
ing the fiscal year 1904 500 per cent went
to the United States. as against rs per
cent Of the total exports of Mexico sent to
this country. While figures showing the per-
centage of Mexican imports supplied by the
United States and the percentage of Next
co.'s exports sent to the United States are
not available for earlier years, 1t is we'll
known that the United States has rapidly
increased the share which she supplies OF
the imports into Mexico and the share
which she takes of the exports from Mex
leo.
Effect Of the Railways.
This increase has been especially mark
ed since the construction of railroads en-
tering Mexico from the United States. Prior
to the construction of railroads between
the United States and Mexico the share
of Mexico's imports supplied by the United
States ranged from 20 to 30 per cent,
against the 50 per cent at the present TIME
as above noted while the share of Next
cos exports sent to the United States was
about in the same proportion. The effec;
of direct rail communication between the
United States and Mexico is also Illus
trated by the fact that the Central Ameri-
can states, which can only be reached by
water, as was the case with Mexico prior
to the construction of railways connecting
the two countries, now take AZ per cent OF
their imports from the United States as
against the 50 per cent which Mexico takes
of her imports from us.