The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-12-01
AMERICAN TRADF
IN PACIFIC Fills
SHIPS WlTHCARG0
BY SlGRID ARNE

They carry with thew oS
anxious hopes that the 1-,;. NE
States can sell abroad - tv i,a'sa
much as before the war - IN ~
up the tremendous increase IN ''A'
dustrial know-how the In ~ III,
States has learned through ' Sa
war, and to employ the weds wy
puddlers, tool-makers, the NV.
hood-tide of aluminium and AZ" ~.
new high in steel production I AZ
of which now are 1oundering q. !.
war contracts dry up. s
~, Where are the ships heading,
Who can pay?
Manila is now the best Buve,
As one international banker bs..
puts it: Manila actually is ano. '
ing San Francisco with letters.s
credit - and it's only Just begm
They want food, textiles and drn,,
now. But we know of huge a.
mands for machinery waiting An
American factories to turn hs
stuff out"
The Philippines are reported I,
have some 100000, 1000 of Amer
can exchange, due mostly To ~,
penditures of the United Stat,
Army and Navy. They want Ame,.
lean merchandise so badly that tbs
character of financial deals ha,
changed - in the United Statey
favor. We used to sell the island,
mostly on a 60 day credit basis
That is, the stuff was delivered
and American exporters were paid
in 60 days. Now, Manila banks are
cabling U. S. banks authorization
for paying bills - letters. of-credjt
it's called - which is practically
Observation-Disclosures. The ey
porter is paid almost as soon as
the merchandise steams out Of
IGOlQen Gdte.
| Several ships monthly are leay.
ing for the Philippines. The long
time worry is that the islands now
have nothing to ship back because
destruction was so great, and until
they do sell they're living off their
own fat. Most importantly thew
could ship us sugar, but that won't
, be possible until 1947 or l940.
! But, so far, no Manila house has
, asked for credit. This is signi.
| ficant: out of 24l letters-of-credit
received here, 155 came to San
Francisco banks. The remainder
: went to New York.
), Manila is shipping one commo.
dity: Gold. 1t was hidden from the
Japs. 1t started coming in here two
months agao.
Exporters here recognized the
,, re-opening of Manila and Shanghai
! with generous gesture: They sent
cargoes on the first ship which
were either outright gifts to their
old business friends, or cargoeS
with pay when you cam notes
The situation in China is con-
fused for many reasons. Both the
United States n d Great Britain
abandoned extra territoriality last
year (the arrangement WHEREBY
Americans and British could trade
in China outside Chinese laws
i. Now both must wait to see What
t Chinese laws for commerce will be
:, written, what value she will set On
l her currency (it's expected to be
tied to the American dollar, what
s tariff schedule she'll write. Shang'
hal banks still are closed, so there
/ is no way of changing Chinese DOL
lars into American dollars to pay
: for goods.
. The biggest importer Of Chinese
) rugs is a San Francisco concern
= which used to employ l2,OOO Wed'
, vers in the Tientsin neighborhood'
: They hear the factories are lntacI
. but the weavers have gone, ana M
\ one knows what happened 10 'ns
q fIocks of sheep which furnished la d.;
: wool. They don't expect rugs uA'u
1947 or 1913.
But most bankers and exporter
f here expect China to be ols
S trade field; some thing bigger tn'a
e Europe. The reason is that Cnlsa
+ produces what we need and neeos
+ what we produce. Importing
i houses here already have flooaS y.
requests from American buyers
: who want tung oil, Tungsten In
), furs, hog bristles, silk, em0fo i.,
:. ed goods, sausage casing iiV'"
China. Inn.
:, What's more, China has KEEP Yep.
abreast of her U. S. war loans NV ~.
= one dollar is in default, ana o ..,,s
0 loan was paid off more 'nan wv
;. years ahead of schedule ,,
q San Francisco houses aEsau .,
have orders from Chinese push
!. men. for river steamers, from !
;, man who is expected to conII4 ,.s.
f third of the traffic on the 4sNs'', v,
K for a paper mill; for hundred, w. "
thousands OF spindles for 'ne 'sn
: tile mills, an order which was D.s
referred to New England iacIol, nj.
1 and for a quarter Of nlllloa y"
$ lars worth of printing pFesse .;or,l
: Representatives of t h Na ..aaal
City Bank and Chase Ns't'' ~.
: both of New York, American a "a
: press, and international telepi'n i,s
> and Telegraph, ALREADY nav ID ,,sro.
: for Shanghai, as well as ~ soraien
| bers of the governments lO''''
: service staff. nm NJ, ac
, China now has $500 0OO' OoO OIL 10Y,
4 have funds W1lCA