show a considerable increase over any preceding year, the total being $97,194,093, against $86,645,277 in 1902. This class-partially manufactured materials for use in manufacturing-had never but once reached $100,000,000 in the earlier years of our commerce. The total importations of materials for use in manufacturing in 1903 amounted to $480,828,386, against $415,151,874 in 1902, and formed 47.7 per cent of the total imports for consumption in 1903, against 46.1 per cent in 1902. IMPORTS FOR CONSUMPTION OF "ARTICLES WHOLLY OR PARTIALLY MANUFACTURED FOR USE AS MATERIALS IN THE MANUFACTURES AND MECHANIC ARTS," ARRANGED IN ORDER Of Magnitude IN 1903. The table which follows shows the importations of manufacturers' materials, and the share which they formed of the total imports, for decennial periods from 1820 to 1880 and annually from 1880 to 1903. IMPORTS FOR CONSUMPTION OF MANUFACTURERS' MATERIALS FROM 1820 TO 1903. The records of the year's imports also show a slight increase in other classes of merchandise. Articles of food and live animals increased $7,009,851 over 1902; articles manufactured ready for consumption increased $17,849,090, and articles of voluntary use, luxuries, etc., increased $17,630,892. The total increase, however, in the three groups, "Articles of food and live animals," "Articles manufactured ready for consumption," and "Articles of voluntary use, luxuries, etc.," aggregated only $42,489,833, against an increase of $65,677,512 in materials for use in manufacturing. TOTAL VALUES OF IMPORTED MERCHANDISE (FREE AND DUTIABLE) ENTERED FOR CONSUMPTION, BY GROUPS, ACCORDING TO DEGREE OF MANUFACTURE AND USES. IMPORTS OF ARTICLES PARTIALLY OR WHOLLY MANUFACTURED FOR USE AS MATERIALS FOR MANUFACTURING, AT QUINQUENNIAL PERIODS FROM 1880 TO 1900, AND IN 1901, 1902, AND 1903. Braids, plaits, laces, etc., for hats, bonnets, and hoods. Iron and steel, and manufactures of. Leather: Band or belting, calfskin, etc. Oils, not elsewhere specified Silk: Spun silk, in skeins, cops, warps, etc.... Wood, and manufactures of, not elsewhere specified.. All other articles... Total VALUE OF PRINCIPAL ARTICLES IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED STATES FOR USE IN MANUFACTURING FROM 1870 TO 1903. A striking evidence of the unusual activity of the home market and unparalleled demand for manufactures of iron and steel in the domestic industries is found in the fact that although the domestic production of iron and steel in 1902 exceeded that of any earlier years, the importations of iron and steel in 1903 were nearly double those of 1902, three times as great as in 1901, and were larger than in any year since 1891. The total value of iron and steel importations, not including ore, was $51,617,312, against $27,180,247 in 1902, and $17,874,789 in 1901. Domestic production of pig iron in 1902 exceeded that of any preceding year by more than $2,000,000, and that of steel also exceeded that of any preceding year by more than $1,000,000; yet despite this increase in the domestic production of iron and steel and the increase above noted in the importation of iron and steel, the exports of manufactures of iron and steel in 1903 fell $1,910,095 below those of 1902, and $25,270,081 below those of 1900. The principal increase in iron and steel importations was in the class of partially manufactured material used in manufacturing. Pig iron increased from $3,367,172 in value in 1902 to $16,830,592 in 1903; scrap iron and steel for remanufacture increased from $768,753 in 1902 to $2,027,049 in 1903; railway bars from $371,452 in 1902 to $2,866,397 in 1903, and ingots, blooms, slabs, billets, and bars from $3,506,375 in 1902 to $9,834,236 in 1903. The table which follows shows the total value of iron and steel imports and exports from 1880 to 1903: IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF IRON AND STEEL AND MANUFACTURES THEREOF FROM 1880 TO 1903. TIN PLATE IMPORTS AND MANUFACTURES. The one important class of iron and steel manufactures which did not show an increase was that of tin plates. The total value of tin plates, terne plates, and taggers tin imported in 1903 was $3,209,915, against $6,065,624 in 1902, and $3,770,062 in 1901; in both quantity and value the figures of imports of tin plate in 1903 fell much below those of 1902. The table which follows shows the importation and domestic production of tin plate from 1889 to 1903: a Estimates for years prior to 1898 furnished by Col. Ira Ayer, special Treasury agent; since that date by the editor of the Metal Worker. b Estimated. EXPORTATIONS AND IMPORTATIONS BY PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES AND GRAND DIVISIONS. The exportations of the year show a satisfactory growth, especially in view of the unusual home demand already noted as evidenced by the unusual activity of the great manufacturing industries and their demand for materials for use in manufacturing. Agricultural products show an increased exportation of $21,857,260, those of manufactures an increase of $3,884,758, and the total domestic exports exceeded those of last year by $36,749,441, and were larger than those of any preceding year except 1901. This growth was general, and occurs in the commerce of nearly all countries and grand divisions of the world. To Europe the total was greater than in any preceding year except 1901; to North America greater than in any preceding year; to South America greater than in any preceding year except 1901; to Africa greater than in any preceding year; to Asia greater than in any preceding year except 1900 and 1902, and to Oceania greater than in any preceding year except 1900. To Asia the exports show a reduction of $5,585,051 compared with 1902, chiefly due to the fact that the exports to Asia in 1902 were abnormally large by reason of the shortage in the supply of foreign goods resulting from the war period of 1901 and the reduced imports of that year. To Oceania the exports of the year are $37,468,512, against $34,258,041 in 1902. To Japan the exports of 1903 are $20,933,692, against $21,485,883 in 1902, this slight reduction being due to the fact that Japan is now purchasing a larger share of her cotton from India than formerly, and has therefore reduced materially her importation of raw cotton from the United States. The total exportation of raw cotton from the United States to Japan in the fiscal year 1903 was 76,413,291 pounds, against 89,252,696 pounds in 1902, while the official reports of the Japanese Government show a marked increase in Japan's imports of raw cotton from India and a decrease in those from the United States. Aside from raw cotton the exports from the United States to Japan show a gratifying growth, and in the first half of the calendar year 1903 Japan's total imports from the United States for the first time exceeded in value her imports from the United Kingdom. In manufactures the export record of the year shows an increase in a very large proportion of the various articles and classes. Agricultural implements show an increase of $4,719,882; leather and manufactures of, $1,819,066; scientific instruments, $1,741,032; wood manufactures, $1,453,561, while books and maps, brass manufactures, cars and carriages, chemicals, cotton, vegetable fibers, glass and glassware, gunpowder and other explosives, india rubber manufactures, paints and pigments, paraffin, soap, and wool manufactures also show in each case an increase. Iron and steel show a decrease, as already indicated, due to the excessive home demand for iron and steel and its manufactures in the domestic industries. Mineral oils show a decrease of $5,294,370, due in part to the increased domestic use of oil for fuel, as well as for other purposes, and to the active rivalry of the mineral oils produced in other parts of the world. To practically every country of Europe the exports of 1903 were greater than in 1902. This was especially true in the case of those countries whose trade relations with the United States have been the subject of much discussion. To Germany the exports were $193,841,636, against $173,148,280 in 1902; to Russia in Europe the exports of 1903 were $16,169,262, against $9,302,359 in 1902 and $8,084,228 in 1901. The imports from these countries also show a marked increase. Those from Germany in 1903 were $119,772,511, against $101,997,523 in 1902; and from Russia $9,234,739 in 1903, against $7,308,403 in 1902. The following tables show the domestic exports of the United States, by great classes, and the imports and exports, by grand divisions, from 1870 to 1903, and the percentage which each supplied of the imports and received of the exports in each year for the period named. DOMESTIC EXPORTS OF THE UNITED STATES, BY GREAT CLASSES, AND PERCENTAGE WHICH EACH FORMS OF TOTAL, FROM 1800 TO 1903. |