Billion Dollars 7 6 5 3 2 456 14 Chart 2 United States-Canada Trade in Automotive U.S. Import U.S. Export 457 15 Exports of U.S. automotive products to Canada were $6,777 million in 1974, an increase of $1,051 over 1973. For 1974 exports of cars were $1,657 million up $218 million or 15 percent; exports of trucks were $916 million up $273 million or 42 percent and parts exports were 3,950 up $398 million or 12 percent. The strong Canadian market, especially for trucks, produced the continuing rise in exports. See Chart 3, page 16. As a percent of total exports in 1974 cars remained at 24 percent, trucks increased to 14 percent, parts declined to 59 percent and tires and tubes were 3 percent. Trade in snowmobiles has declined since 1970 when total snowmobile trade was $153 million, with a U.S. snowmobile deficit of $129 million. In 1974 total United States-Canada snowmobile trade was $67 million with a U.S. snowmobile deficit of $3 million. Automotive Trade Statistics. A series of consultations in 1970 between government statistical experts from both the United States and Canada led to agreement that a cooperative effort was necessary to prepare a complete accounting of trade under the Automotive Agreement. Neither U.S. nor Canadian export statistics are sufficiently detailed to reflect accurately all trade covered by the Agreement, particularly in components that are not necessarily automotive in nature (e.g., pipe fittings, engine parts, fabric for seat covers, etc.). In addition, a joint U.S.-Canada committee studying overall trade statistics found that a substantial Trade in Automotive Products, U.S. and Canada, 1965-74 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1971 1072 Source: U.S. Department of Commerce; Statistics Canada. 1970 17 459 amount of automotive exports are never reported in the first place, due to slippages in submission and collection of documentation. 12/ Therefore, agreement was reached by both countries to use their own import statistics (in which all products eligible for duty-free treatment are broken out separately) to report imports and the other country's import statistics to report exports. The table on page 13 was prepared using the method described in the previous paragraph and represents the most accurate way of measuring trade under the Automotive Agreement. U.S. imports for 1974 in the table page 13 were compiled using f.a.s. import values as now published by the Bureau of the Census. The f.a.s. values represent the transaction value of imports at the foreign port of exportation. The U.S. f.a.s. values are comparable to the Canadian automotive import figures which are compiled using actual transaction values. Prior to 1974 the U.S. transaction values for imports were calculated for unpublished data collected by the Bureau of the Census. The f.a.s. values are not comparable to the frequently used customs value basis import statistics, in which imports are valued (for duty) at prices constructed by the Bureau of Customs for duty purposes. 12/ The study, titled The Reconciliation of U.S. Canada Trade Statistics 1970, a Report by the U.S.-Canada Trade Statistics Committee, was published jointly by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, and Statistics Canada. 18 460 United States Automotive Trade with Countries Other Than Canada. The automotive trade statistics used in the tables covering automotive trade with countries other than Canada are based entirely on Bureau of Census statistics. Consequently, the figures from tables 12, 13, 1413/ used in this section are not comparable with data given on United States-Canada trade in automotive products in the table on page 13. Imports in 1974 of automotive products from countries other than Canada were 51 percent of all automotive imports including Canada, up from 46 percent in 1973. Exports of automotive products to countries other than Canada were 31 percent of all automotive exports in 1974 compared to 28 percent in 1973. Imports of automotive products from countries other than Canada rose 25 percent in value in 1974 compared to 1973, but this increase was due to higher prices as the number sold which were imported from overseas, in 1974 was down from 1973. Automotive imports excluding Canada were of cars, $6.1 billion in 1974 and $4.8 billion in 1973. Japan was the largest source supplying automotive products valued at $2.5 billion, while West Germany supplied $2.2 billion worth and lost its 1973 position as our largest overseas automotive supplier. Increased imports of cars constituted 73 percent of the growth in imports, trucks accounted for 21 percent of the growth and parts only 6 percent. 13/ Table 12 page 41; Table 13 page 42; Table 14 page 43 |