The Washington herald., 1921-07-22
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SOUTH AMERICANS
SAY U.S.. NECLECTS
HER EXPORT TRADE
State the European Mer-.
chants Study Needs
Of People.
PACKING is FAULTY
Consuls in New York Warn
OF Keen Competition
From Germans.
PACKING is FAULTY

NEW YORK. July 21.-Ernests
C. Perez, consul general OF Argeh'
tina, in New York. threw up hf'
hands in despair. :.
Your merchants send our peopie
what they think we ought TO wan
instead of what we do want" ne
exploded.
Senior Perez was discussing the
way United States exporters have
been neglecting their war-porr
South American trade. His Latir
temperament has been sorely triec
OF late, anyway by the vast igno'
rance some people show OF any
thing south Of the Mexican bor-
der.
Conditions Are Good.
And some of them actually think
the Argentine belongs to the United
States" Again the expressive hands
went up and the black ribbons on
the consular eyeglasses huttered
like little battlehags.
The harassed dignitary's Eng
lish failed him. and a rush Of fiery
Spanish showed his real feelings
But that hot wave came only as q
cool trickle through the suave
phrases of the Interpreter.
The consul wishes me to say" n
would be, that conditions in the
Argentine are now most favorable
The Argentine has a larger gold re-
serve for its paper currency than
any other country. The Argentine
has more telephones than any other
Snuth Americau nation
Goods Badly Packed.
The quality of American goods
as compared to European" The
consul couldn't say anythinG
Oh" But Senior Perez, himself
broke in to tell about a shipmen,
OF hose sent to an Argentine buyer
from New York. The order had
been for black. The stockings re-
ceived were a shrieking green. And
the way things were packed
Nearly always. when any OF our
South American neighbors talk
about American houses. and Amerf-
can representatives in the Latin
countries. they are courteously eva
sive. They don't want to hurt our
feelings. And they are very anx-
ious to build UP strong commercial
relations ebtween the South and the
North.
But they are always certain even
II they won't tell 1t. that American
neglect of Latin American trade
possibilities is driving the South
buying nearly everything from Eu-
rope. Germany is already making a
strong bid for the import trade OF
the Argentine. Brazil and Chile
THE European traders seek 10
know our customs, our needs, ano
our likes" said F. Nieto del Rio,
Chilean consul general. They send
men to South America to study the
conditions. And they are willing to
buy from u.s."
Chile Favors Z. 2.
But Chile Is set strongly toward
the United States despite new Ger
man efforts 10 get control Of it,
Senior del Rio said. The German
market for nitrates, the chief Chill
can export. has dwindled to almost
nothing. Germany is making her
own nitrstes. of a poor quality, bu,
possible to use. The consul believes
that American agriculture should
use more nitrates as fertilizer.
buy our goods, and we will buy
yours" he said in effect.
In the consurs opinion, the things
that are hamperfng trade between
the United States and South Amer
lea are these:
1. European merchants STUDY
the needs and likes of their South
ern clients. Americans do not,
seemingly.
2. The United States merchants
too often want to sell without buy
ing.
3. Credit is harder to obtain here
than it is abroad.
4. American exchange rates are
very high. 1t takes 157 gold peso.
of Argentina to equal 100 gold dol
lars in New York. The normal rate
is about 103.
1t is true, Senior del Rio said. tina;
prices here have gone down greatly
since last year, which partly coun.
teracts the high exchange rates.
But the rank and file of South
American clients do not understand
that. The American exnorters