Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-08-01
GREAT INCREASES
IN FOREIGN TRADE
Both Imports and Exports
for Fiscal Year Indicate
Manufacturing Activity.

1t is now possible. with the complete
figures of the total trade of the United
States in the fiscal year 1920. to compare
the trade of the FIRST fiscal year follow
ing the war with tftat of the last fiscal
year preceding the war.
These figures. says the National City
Bank OF New York, which presents this
analysis of the foreign trade at the
present time. compared with that OF the
fiscal year 1914. which ended just before
the outbreak of the war. indicate ire
nendous gains. though it must be re-
mcmbered that in nearly all cases CON
siderable part of the gains are due TO
higher prices In practically all in
stances, however. there is large ad-
vance in the quantity of the merchan-
disc. both imported and exported:
Imports as a whole. adds the bank
statement, which stand al S5.23S OOO. 900
for the fiscal year 1920. show an in
crease Of Ia per cent over the hScai
year 1914, when they were 1881 .O00.0 900.
Exports. which stand at SSH .O0o,ooo.
show an increase of 243 per cent over
1914 when they stood at 1856. 900 900.
OF domestic exports only. excluding the
foreign merchandise re-eXported. the to-
tai stands in 1920 at $3.50. 900, 600 or 241
per cent over 1914. when the total was
81. 1885,. 600. 000. Re-eXportation OF foreign
tai for 1920 standing at Sl6e.O0O,000.
against $50. 000. 900 in 1914.
Where Gains Showed.
MarAfacturing> material showed the
largest increase on the import side. and
food and manufactures the big increases
on the export side. The value of the
raw manufacturing material imported
jumped from 1854 200. 900 in 1914 TO 81
100 600. 600 in 1920. an increase of 241 per
cent. This increase occurred in many
lines of articles, but especially in india
rubber. raw silk, raw cotton. wool, hides
and skins. and tin. OF the ten principal
manufacturing articles imported OF
character which can be reduced to d
uniform basis of pounds. namely, cot
ton. wool, silk. fiber, rubber, hides and
skins. tobacco. tin. copper and gums. the
quantity. measured in pounds. increased
a little less than so per cent when COM
pairing the 1920 imports with those of
1914. while the total value of the same
articles increased to much greater eX-
tent
These increases in manufacturing
material are in many cases extremely
large. and illustrative of the great
activity of the manufacturing indus
tries of the country. Raw cotton. for
example, imported in 1920 shows
total of slightly more than $40 mill
lion pounds against 1913 million
pounds in 1914; wool shows a total
for 1920 of approximately 420 mil
liOH pOuIidS zoo IIlIiIlOH III
1914. and raw silk. despite the very
high prices of 1920, which are three
times as much as in 1914, aggregated
in the fiscal year 1920 IS million
pounds. stated in round terms,
against % million in 1914. while the
unexampled demand of the people of
the United States for silk and silk
goods is evidenced by the fact that
the sum paid for raw silk imported
in 1920 was in round terms $780,
m O nj
Rubber's Big Showing.
OF india rubber, the increase in
quantity was equally startling. the
total quantity imported in the fiscal
year 1920 having been considerably
over 500 million pounds. against 1872
million in 1914. this increase being
largely due to the demand for use in
conjunction with the automobile in
dustry, though it is proper to add
that exports of rubber manufactures
grew from $4,000, 600 in 1914 to ap-
proximately s70.0O0.000 in 1920. Hides
and skins also show a tremendous in
crease in our demand upon foreign
countries. the quantity imported in
the fiscal year 1920 amounting to
about 500 million pounds. against
only SCI million in 1914, while the
value of the 1920 imports of this
class was in round terms 100000
against $3.50, 900, 900 in 1914.
Foodstufs Sent Out.
On the export side the startling
changes occur in manufactures and
foodstuffs. Manufactures ready for
use show a total of exports amount
ing to approximately S2.S50, 900, 900
against S725, 100000 in 1914, being
nearly four times as much in value
in 1920 as in the year before the war.
To what extent this enormous in
crease is due to higher prices cannot
be closely determined. though COM
parison of the export figures of 1920
with those of 1914 show very large
increases in quantities in all of the
important artick,s in which quanti-
ties are shown in the official reports
of exports.
Cotton cloths, COR example. show a
total of about Ss5 million yards ex-
ported against f15 million in 1914;
tin plates, 450 million pounds against
JOG million in ;B14: sheets and plates
of iron and steel. 100000, 900 pounds
against 34{million in 1914, and boots
and snees. 20 million pairs in 1920
against 100000 pairs in 1914.
FoodstuffS also show very large
increases in total values of exports.
advancing from a little less than
S500.000.000 in 1914 to over $4,000
100000 in 1920.