Evening star., 1951-04-29

buG the newest IacCS ana nj
last years hemisphere-wide Gems
merce studies and the annual re-
ports of key business concern
operating in that part of the world
show that we have become equal.
indispensable to one another il
normal times.
Ordinarily statistics may be dull
but a brief glimpse of those cover
ing our commerce with thes,
20 nations and their NOR
than 152 million people, revea
that in 1949 and so they bough
more than a fourth of all our ex
ports. Our annual trade will
them now averages more than fiv'
billion dollars. Last year our 81,
largest imports were, in the ordel
named, coffee. newsprint, sugar
oil, rubber and wool. OF these 81
per cent of the coffee, 86 per cent
of the sugar. 81 per cent of the oil
most of it from Venezuela, and AZ
per cent of the wool came fren
Latin America.
Recent Growth Quicker
The relative growth of our trade
with these countries in the last
Is years is even more impres.
sive. In 1880 we were buying only
% per cent of our imports from
them. Last year As per cent of ali
our foreign purchases came from
Latin America. In 1890 we solo
the 20 Republics some 35 pei
cent of their imports, but in 1886
more than half of all the products
they bought abroad came from
this country.
In 1949 and so several billior
dollars worth Of our product.
went to Europe and Asia under
the Marshall Plan. d large portion
of them outright gifts. But II
1850, In spite of a shortage o1
dollars in many of the countries
our Latin American neighbor.
bought 80 per cent of our export.
of manufactured iron and stee
products. They also took A pei
cent of all of our exports of auto.
mobiles, 80 per cent of the ma.
chinery and 38 per cent of the
chemicals that we sold abroad.
Steamship companies and air.
lines plying between this country
and Latin America are operating
at capacity. The Delta Line oi
New Orleans and the Moore-Mc.
Cormick Line out of New York tt
Eastern South America, the Grace
Line to the North and West
coasts. the United Fruit and other
lines to various Caribbean coun-
tries, are not only carrying in
creasing numbers of passengers
but doing a record cargo business
both ways. The year 1850 was
the greatest year in it's history
for Pan American Grace Airways,
which flies the West coast to
Chile and Buenos Aires. Braniff
and Pan American World Always
also had unprecedented years.
The significant fact about all
this increased travel and trade
to Latin America is that most of
it originates west of the Allegheny
Mountains instead of along the
Eastern Seaboard. Pan American
Airways has developed a new kind
of business out of the Middle. and
Far West. Lately delegations of
so and rs people, representing
chambers of commerce and other
trade organizations from such
cities as Detroit, Chicago, Gin
cinnati, Kansas City, Los Angeles
and others, have been taking over
whole planes for trips around the
entire South American continent
to study and survey business pos
sibilities in the various capitals
Most unique of all, PAA has been
organizing groups of farmers from
the Mississippi Valley States, who
are studying agricultural condi-
tions in the different countries.
Because they are chiefly export
ers of copper, tin, oil, zinc, lead,
nitrate of soda, iodine, antimony
and other mineral and metal
lurgical products, it might be
thought that our trade with the
six Andean countries from Vene-
zuela to Chile would not be so
important in ordinary times. But
here again the latest figures show
not only a valuable and steady
growth in normal trade with us,
but a remarkable improvement in
their general economic progress in
recent years.
Oil to Europe
Last year Venezuela's exports
amounted to $1,115, $4,000. The
bulk of this consisted of petroleum
products, much of which, as we
have seen, went to Europe and
Asia under the Marshall Plan. In
fact, Venezuelan oil was the larg-
est single item bought from Latin
America with Marshall Plan dol
lars. The country's total daily
output of oil in 1850 reached the
unprecedented figure of is mil
lion barrels.
While a large portion of the
imports from Venezuela consisted
of oil, that country is now begin
ming to sell us increasing quanti-
ties of iron ore, a new industry
developed by the Bethlehem and
United States Steel Cos. in the
past two and one-half years. The
United States supplies this South
American nation with more than
70 per cent of all it's imports. Last
year its 5 million people bought
$500 million worth of our products.
The Middle Western farm groups
found that the Venezuelans not
only buy United States automo-
blles. heavy machinery and other
manufactures, but also lumber,
lard. flour, tobacco, poultry and
every other agricultural and for
est product.
Next to Brazil, Colombia" sells
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