Commerce with the United States.— In 1915 the exports from the United States to Argentina were valued at $53,912,544. The rec ord of Argentina's commerce with the United States during 20 years (1895 to 1914, inclu sive) shows a very marked preponderance of imports over exports, except in the first and last of those years. Thus, in 1895 Argentina imported from the United States goods valued at $6,419,519, and exported to the United States goods valued at $8,589,278; and in 1914 the figures were $35,585,913 for imports and $41,680,985 for exports. But in the years that intervened the balance of trade in favor of the United States was conspicuously large. The importance of the Argentine market will be most readily appreciated when we ascertain, from a study of the records for the year 1913, that the value of merchandise exported from the United States to Argentina was nearly (within $7,430) as great as the value of mer chandise exported from the United States to Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Ecuador com bined; and that it was $12,543,939 greater than the sum of exports from the United States to Chile, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, British Guiana, Bolivia, Dutch Guiana, French Guiana and the Falkland Islands. In brief, Argentina received 362 per cent of the total exports from the United States to South America. The principal articles thus supplied by the United States to Argentina were: Iron and steel, raw material and manufactures of 33.4 per cent of total supplied by the United States to South America; wood and manufactures, 62 per cent of total; oils — animal, mineral and vegetable, 39.8 per cent of total; agricultural implements,
a per cent of total; cars, carriages, other vehicles and parts of, 35.8 per cent of total; leather and manufactures of, 42.5 per cent of total; fibres, vegetables and manufactures of, 74 per cent of total; engines, locomotives and railway material, 21.1 per cent of total; aero planes, automobiles, bicycles, motor and other cycles, 38.5 per cent of total; chemicals, drugs, dyes and medicines, 36 per cent of total; naval stores, 36.4 per cent of total; paper and manu factures of 44.6 per cent of total; other goods of minor importance, 14.9 per cent of total. According to the Argentine commercial statistics of 1913goods to the value of V2, 135,215 from the United States were received duty free. It is necessary, however, to em phasize in this connection the fact that among the seven nations that lead in exports to Argen tina, the United States took only a third posi tion, surpassed by Great Britain and Germany and followed by France Italy, Belgium and Spain, until there came the enormous increase that characterized the years 1913-17, inclusive, and which was due to the vast decrease in pro duction of the European countries because of the war.
In 1916 the United States imported from Argentina articles valued at $100,000,000, a.p proximately, and the value of exports from the United States to Argentina in 1916 was about $65,000,000. Consult Americas, The (New York, published monthly, 1914 et seq.) ; 'Ar gentine International Trade) (Panama-Pacific Int. Exp., 1915, Buenos Aires, Department of Agriculture, 1914).