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Show IB! AUTOS II I FOREIGN TRADE i OF IE U.S. j jf Washington, D. C The - -United iflStates continues to increase its ex ;iorts and decrease its imports of au-itomobilcs. au-itomobilcs. Returns of foreign trade I Icompiled by the Bureau of Foreign f jand Domestic Commerce show an In-- In-- Screase of 369 in the number of auto-Iniobiles auto-Iniobiles exported and a decrease of 59 fin tfie number- imported during the jfraonth of January. 1914, when conipar-fed conipar-fed with January, 1913. The number i jjpf complete automobiles exported Increased In-creased from 2,157 in January, 1913, to 2,526 In January of the current year; while the number Imported fell during the same period front 71 to 12. The average valuation per car of the automobiles imported is considerable consider-able higher than that of the automobiles automo-biles exported. Those imported during dur-ing January wore valued at about $3,-400 $3,-400 each, and those exported at about $900 each. This average import price of $3,400 is occlusive of transportation transporta-tion charges to our shores and duties collected, the ad valorem rate of duty assessed on cars valued at less than $2,000 each beims 30 per cent, and on all other cars 45 per cent. The increasing "importance of the automobile as a factor in international trade is apparent from the fact that the exports of automobiles from six leading manufacturing countries now aggregate 119 million dollars in value, an increase of 10 million over thoso of 1912 and 70 million over those of 190S. In this growing trade the United Unit-ed States ocupies a prominent place and it is believed sales in numerous parts of the world have resulted direc tly from the trade-promotion service maintained by the Bureau ot Foreign and Domestic Commerce which, through the "Dally Consular and 1 Trade Reports," is constantly bringing bring-ing to the notice of American manufacturers manu-facturers foreign trade opportunities with respect to automobiles and other lines of goods. While France still leads the world in exportation of automobiles, the United Uni-ted StateB has made the most rapid gain. Exact comparisons are not practicable prac-ticable owing to differences of classification classi-fication established by the various countries. So far as ascertainable from the official accounts of the countries coun-tries named, exports of automobiles including in-cluding chassis, but omitting tires, increased in-creased in the case of France, from 25 million dollars in 190S to 44 mlllionyln 1913; Germauv from 3 to 20 million: the United Kingdom, from 8 to 14 million: mil-lion: Italy, from 5 1-2 to 6 13 million; Belgium, from 2 to 6 million; and the United States, Including shipments to Hawaii and Porto Rico, from 5 million 'to 35 million dollars. The record of automobile exportation exporta-tion from the United States began In July, 1901. In the six months from July 1 to December 31 of that year the total value ot exportatlons of automobiles automo-biles was $307,371; in the calendar year 1902, slightly more than $1,000,-000, $1,000,-000, and since that time has steadily increased until in 1913 the total had reached $35,000,000, exclusive of tires and engines in sufficient quantity to bring the aggregate up to the high-record high-record sum of $41,000,000. Meantime imports of automobiles, which gradually gradu-ally Inoreased from approximately $500,000 in 1902 to $5,000,000 in 1906, now show a downward trend, tho total having receded to $3,200,000 in 190S and $1,600,000 in 1913, with a proportionately pro-portionately much greater decline in the initial month, of tho current year. American made automobiles were sold last year in all parts of the world, considerable numbers going to tho United Kingdom, Germany, and 'France, the European centers of the automobile industry. To the United Kingdom our exports last year amounted amoun-ted to 5,152 cars, or more than three times as many as In 1910; to Germany, Ger-many, 1,017, or about ten times as many as In 1910; and to France, 921, or four times as many as in 1910. In each case the figures for 1913 were the largest on record. Canada continues con-tinues to be the largest single customer custo-mer for American automobiles, though the 6,051 cars exported thereto in 1913 is slightly less than the number exported ex-ported to Canada in 1912, namely, 7,421 cars. In addition to $S,000,000 worth of complete automobiles exported ex-ported from the United States to Canada Can-ada last year, about $4,000,000 worth of parts were also shipped to be assembled as-sembled in Canadian establishments. Sales of this class to Mexico declined from 297 cars In 1911 to 227 last year, while those to practically all other countries Increased; those to South America having doubled, thoso to Australia Au-stralia and other British Oceania having hav-ing increased about 50 per cent, and those to Asia, Africa, and other parts of the world as a whole having quadrupled quad-rupled during the last two years. While American manufacturers were increasing their sales of automobiles auto-mobiles abroad, foreign manufacturers were less successful in our own market. mar-ket. Thus the number of automobiles imported from France foil from 469 In 1912 to 196 last year: Italy from 109 to S5: and of those from the United Kingdom, from 137 to 54; while the number imported from all other countries coun-tries except Germany decreased from 90 to 7G. Germany 'alone showed increased in-creased sales, the SI automobiles Imported Im-ported from that country In 1913 being be-ing a gain of IS over the number Imported Im-ported In the preceding year. Last year's imports of automobiles into the United States were valued at slightlv more than $1,000,000. compared com-pared with similar imports of $2,500,-000 $2,500,-000 bv Italy, $3,000,000 by Belgium, S3,300000 by Germany, $3,500,000 by France and $18,000,000 by the United Kingdom. |