The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-04-05
FOREIGN TRADE
 ACTIVE DURING
 THE PAST YEAR
U. s. Manufacturers Busy on Raw Material
 Imports.

The foreign trade of the United States in the fiscal year which ends 90 days hence, will show remarkable activity on the part of our manu- 1 lecturers, their imports of raw ma. terials having doubled as compared 1 with last year, while their exports | of finished nanufa cures also show | large gains. Details of the latest trade | figures, those of the month of Feb ruary, just received, says state ment by The National City Bank of 1 New York, indicate that our exports l of manufactures in the fiscal year which ends June 30, 1920, will exceed 1 those of 1919 by a quarter Of a bill l lion dollars, and that practically all 1 of this increase occurs in finished l manufactures.
 Another evidence of the activity of the manufactures is found in the fact that the value of the raw material which they are importing totaled for the month of February, $197, 7,00O,- | 900 against $8S, S,000,000 in February 1919, and for the eight months of | the current year $1, 100000 also against $744, 100000 in the same months of last year.
 We were expecting, says the Banks statement, a fall off in imports from Europe, which it was supposed had little to sell, especially of the class of materials which we desire, but to everybodys surprise the imports from Europe in the month of February were $107, ,000,000 against only ESQ., 000,000 in the same month Of last year, while the exports to Europe, which was supposed to have little with which to buy, also show slight gain over last year, $3S5, 100000
 
 Whatever may be the shortage of export materials in Europe, it cer- tainly is greatly increasing it's sales to the United States, the merchan- disc received from the United King dom in February, 1920 being $52,- 900, ,00O against 13,000,000 in Feb ruary of last year; from France $15,- 0OO,O00 against $5,00O,000 in the same month of last year; from Italy $8,0OO,00O against less than S2,O0O,- 900 in the same month of last year; and Netherlands $12,OO0,O00 against $2,0O0,0O0 in February 1919.
 The articles composing this increase in European sales to the United States are chiefly 1uxuries; diamonds from Netherlands; silks and faces and high grade cotton manufactures from France and England, olive oil and fruits from Italy, and also con- siderable quantities of india rubber, and other manufacturing materials which these countries have drawn from the colonies and are reship- ping to the United States.
 The increase in exports of manu- facturers occurs chiefly in our trade with Asia and our immediate neigh bors of North America at c<z- north and at the south. Exorts to Asia in
 
 hence will total about $730, 100000 against $604, ,00O, 900 in the fiscal year 1919, and $447, 100000 in 1918, while to all of North America outside of the United States the total in 1919 will be approximately $1,470, 900, 900 as against S1, ,292, 100000 in the fiscal year 1919 and S1,236, 100000 in 1918. One of the most surprising of the surprises is in the figures of the ex- ports to Canada, which has been re- ported as struggling to keep down her imports frem the United States, since the official figures of our ex- pCcts to Canada in the single month of February 1920, were $63,310, 900 against GAP, ,621, ,000 in February 1919, and S53, ,854, 900 in February, 1917. To Cuba the total for February 1920 was $21, ,434,0O0 against $22, 692, 900 in the same month of last year.
 To South America and Oceania it must be admitted that the February exports are disappointing. The total to South America is but $40, ,459, 900 against SAP. .621, ,000 in February 1919, last year, and to Oceania $17, ,5S2, ,0O0 against $22,415, 900 in February 1919, indicating that British activities in regaining their former share in that trade are apparently affecting our own trade with those sections, though the total to South America for the , months ending with February ts still $27,0OO,0O0 greater than in the same months of last year, but to Oceania, especially Australia, is about $3e,000,0O0 below the same months in 1919. Manufactures form about S5 per cent of our exports to Asia, Oceania, South America, and Africa. and about 66 per cent of those to