Evening star., 1925-06-08
NORWEGIAN TRADE
! IN RAPID ADVANCE
u. S. Commerce Figures
Show Wide Range of Ex-
ports-CroWn Rises.
BY j. c. ROYLE.

The first Norwegian immigrant, the
centennial of whose arrival is being
celebrated today, brought interna.
tional trade with him. And the flow
of commerce between the United
States and Norway has increased ever
since. Until 1905 the figures shown
the imports and exports to Norway
and Sweden were combined by Gov
ernment StatisticianS. In 1925 these
combined figures showed imports to
this country of $214,523 and exports
from America of s1.12S,256.
In 1924 imports from Norway alone
had reached s21 ,00O. 900 and exports
this year both imports and exports
have moved at an even better rate.
Gradual Increase In Trade.
While the volume Of trade is not
extremely large, both countries, realiz-
Ing the possibilities which lie in fu-
ture commercial relations, are putting
forth consistent efforts to further i'm
provement.
Trade with Norway even prior to
the World War was a steady factor.
with imports and exports each rang
ing around $4,000 900 a year, with the
balance of trade slightly in favor of
Norway. The fact that this commerce
was not more extensive was due to
the lack of a regular steamship route
between the two countries. With the
establishment of a steamer service
from New York to Norwegian ports in
1914 a gradual increase took place.
During the World War the difficult
ties incident to the struggle DETECTED
trade, but 9Th the declaration of
peace immense quantities Of materials
were imported from this country by
Norway. In 1919, according to officials
of the Department of Commerce. these
American exports totaled over $780,
900, 900, and in 1920 were not much
smaller. These years, however, were
not normal.
Crown Advances in Value.
The present return to normal move
ments has been due, according to Gov
ernment officials. to the advance in the
value of the crown, which has enabled
Norway to buy advantageously here,
and to the industrial expansion OF
Norway, which has made available
larger quantities of Norwegian prod
ucts for export. The increase in the
Norwegian merchant marine has
prompted this interchange of goods
There are now five established steam
ship lines between Norway and the
Atlantic coast of America and two
similar lines from Norway to the
Pacific coast. In addition, the United
States lines participate in the carry
ing trade between the two countries.
Trade Expansion Seen.
Thus every facility is available for
growth of commercial intercourse and
it seems natural to expect trade re
lations will undergo constant develop
ment from this time on. The United
States supplies a wide range of prod
ucts to Norway. Among the most
important are rye, wheat, wheat
-four, sugar, cotton, fruits, lard, to.
bacco, petroleum, rubber goods, cop.
per, automobiles and certain types OF
machinery. Norway in her turn sup
plies the United States with huge
quantities of wood pulp about per
cent of the total American imports).
paper, cement, manganese and ferro
alloys. aluminium, nitrogen fertilizers,
matches and large quantities of whale
oil.
The outstanding occurrence this
year in the trade relations of Nor
way has been the appreciation of the
Norwegian crown, which has risen
from an equivalent of 13 cents in
July, 1924, to 1873 cents. This in
creasing stabilization is behind the
effort of the Norwegian government
to secure a loan of S45, 100000 from
American banking interests.