AMERICA’S EXPORT TRADE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20705, 1 May 1929, Page 11

AMERICA’S EXPORT TRADE.

EXTENSION OF MARKETS. OUTPUT OF MOTOR VEHICLES. (From Our Own Correspondent, ) LONDON", March 14, A report issued by the Department of Overseas Trade shows how America is striving to extend her markets for exports. in other countries, and the success she has achieved. Compared with pre-war days, American exports in various classes of commodities show remarkable increases. Petrol exports have risen by about 300 per cent., andmachinery by the same figure. In the case of automobiles, exports in 1027 were valued at 388,300.000 dollars (£77,000,000). Before the war the annual average was 24,100,000 dollars (£4,800,000). In the fiscal year ended June 30, 1928, the volume of United States exports was valued at 4,877,000,000 dollars, while imports reached 4,146,000,000, dollars, leaving a favourable balance of 731.000. dollars, or an increase of 15.000. dollars on the previous year. ‘ Exports of manufactured goods amounted to 2,001,000,000 dollars, nearly 43 per cent, of the total exports, and an increase of 70 per cent, over the 'depression period of 1921-22. . AUTOMOBILE TRADE. Thfe automobile (the report states) is by far the most outstanding single item of the American export trade in manufacturing products. Figures for the fiscal year ended June, 1928, give the total value of exports of aIT automotive products as 425,100,000 dollars (£85,000,000), an increase over the previous year of 18.2 per cent. Australia, Canada, Argentina, British South Africa, and Brazil were the largest markets. > Progress made by American automobile manufactures in the export field has, says the report, been remarkable. In 1924, it is shown, 151,380 passenger cars and 27,352 trucks were sent abroad. In 1927 these figures had increased to’ 278,<42 and 105,457. In 1924 the ratio of exports to production was only 3.0 per cent. By 1927 this had grown to the impressive figure of 17.7 per cent, of production. The development of the cheap automobile is gradually affecting the market for motor cycles. Exports in 1927 were 10,469, against 22,870 for the previous year. Australia is the chief export market, but sales to that count ry in 1927 showed a decrease of 45 per cent, from 1926. The expansion of the export trade, however, js, says tJic report, becoming more and more vital in sustaining the present rate of production. Predictions as to the saturation point of the domestic market have all so far proved to bo very wide of the mark. PROTECTIVE DUTIES, With a total registration at the end of 1927 of 23,127.315 cars, it is difficult to believe thot. the home market can go on absorbing 85 per cent, of a production comparable with the present rate, especially as the used car problem is already very acute. The export field provides a way out, and the large corporations arc concentrating on this with considerable vigour. Development of the export trade is having an influence on the American attitude towards protective duties. Exporters,- it is stated, havq had to use considerable tact and skill in cultivating markets whose own export trade has been seriously curtailed by the high tariff ruling in the United States. Experience has led them to favour less stringent tariffs at home in order to secure goodwill abroad. The development of the motor trade, it is stated, has been mainly responsible for the creation of a rubber manufacturing industry which is greater than that of the rest of the world combined.