Full text of Economic Review (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco) : Waterborne Trade of the Pacific Northwest : Supplement to Monthly Review

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WATEBBOBNE TBABE
OF THE PACIFIC lORTIWEST

S u p p le m e n t to

MONTHLY REVIEW
AUGUST, 1952

F E D E R A L




R E S E R V E

B A N K

O F

S A N

F R A N C I S C O

•

•

C O N T E N T S

•

•

Page

IN T R O D U C T IO N ...................................................... 1
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST E C O N O M Y ........................... 2
FOREIGN T R A D E ...................................................... 3
DOMESTIC TRADE...................................................... 15
SOME SPECIAL FACTORS AFFECTING PACIFIC
NORTHWEST T R A D E ............................................. 19
TRADE PROSPECTS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST . . . .

22

APPENDIX A — FOREIGN TRADE OF THE OREGON
CUSTOMS D IS T R IC T ............................................. 24
APPENDIX B— FOREIGN TRADE OF THE WASHINGTON
CUSTOMS D IS T R IC T ............................................. 26

Prepared by William A. Hurst, Economist, and Lynn Mah, Research Assistant,




under the direction and review of officers
of the Research Department.

INTRODUCTION
mestic, will follow. Under foreign trade, consideration
will be given to the various types of trade— commercial,
foreign aid, and military— with regard to their commodi­
ty composition and geographic distribution, and to those
countries which are most important as trading partners
of the Pacific Northwest. Under domestic trade, the
trends in coastwise and intercoastal trade and trade with
noncontiguous territories will be studied. In this section
special attention will be given to trade with Alaska, which
is of particular importance to the Puget Sound area.
Supplementing this general discussion of trends in
foreign and domestic trade will be a section devoted to
some of the more important indigenous problems of Pa­
cific Northwest waterborne trade. The problems consid­
ered will be those which are subject to some control by
local action, such as waterfront labor-management rela­
tions, the adequacy of waterfront facilities, and local rate
structures.

is the second of two articles on the waterborne
trade of the Pacific Coast. The first was devoted to
the waterborne trade of California ports,1 The present
article will be concerned with the Pacific Northwest. The
usual definition of the Pacific Northwest includes the
states of Oregon and Washington and all or parts of
Idaho and Montana. Since this study is concerned pri­
marily with waterborne trade, however, major attention
will be devoted to the maritime states of Oregon and
Washington.
h is

T

Like California ports, the ports of the Pacific North­
west have been deeply concerned over the state of their
shipping industry, particularly with the failure of their
foreign trade to keep pace with the expanding national
volume. The bustling activity of the war years was re­
placed by general lethargy on the waterfronts until the
outbreak of the Korean War. Since then the tempo of
shipping activity all along the Pacific Coast has increased,
and the ports of the Pacific Northwest have received more
than a proportionate share of the increase. In 1951, ex­
ports (excluding military shipments) from the Oregon
customs district were three times the value of 1950’s ex­
ports, while exports from the Washington district were
double the 1950 level.2

Comparison with California ports

The ports of the Pacific Northwest have some charac­
teristics in common with California ports, but there are
also certain distinctive features. On the one hand, the
Pacific Northwest ports, like those of California, have
been confronted during recent years by a decrease in their
shares of total United States foreign trade, difficulties in
conducting trade with the Orient since the end of World
War II, stagnation or actual declines in coastwise and
intercoastal trade, complexities of rate structures, labormanagement problems, lack of fully developed port pro­
motion programs, and the problem of antiquated facili­
ties.

The recent revival in foreign shipping activity, how­
ever, should not obscure the fact that during most of the
post-World War II period the waterborne foreign trade
of the Pacific Northwest did not keep abreast of that of
the nation. Moreover, domestic waterborne trade is still
below the level of prewar years. This relatively recent
upsurge in trade has been in response to unusual demand
conditions which are of uncertain duration, and it pro­
vides no reliable measure of the level at which the Pa­
cific Northwest can maintain its waterborne trade under
more normal conditions of purely commercial trading.

On the other hand, several characteristics serve to set
the Pacific Northwest apart and justify its separate treat­
ment. In the first place, the Pacific Northwest economy
lacks the diversification of its neighboring state to the
south. Its economy is geared to the production of a few
commodities, such as lumber and other forest products,
grains, fruits, vegetables, and fishery products, with some
refining and smelting of aluminum and copper. But few
major fabricating and manufacturing industries are lo­
cated in the Pacific Northwest, with the notable excep­
tion of the aircraft industry in the Seattle area. Secondly,
foreign trade is not as well developed or as balanced in
the Pacific Northwest as in California. Pacific Northwest
ports are faced with a chronic excess of outbound over
inbound shipments of foreign trade cargo. Since Pacific
Northwest ports engage in little transshipment trade to
and from points east of the Rockies, the origins and des­
tinations of most of its exports and imports are centered
in the Pacific Northwest itself. However, the capacity to
produce basic commodities for export far exceeds the
local demand for imports. During the post-World War II
period, 1947-51, the total value of waterborne imports of
the Pacific Northwest averaged only 44 percent of the

The purpose of this article will be to study some of the
underlying trends in Pacific Northwest waterborne trade,
the failure of the area to maintain its share of the nation’s
total foreign trade, and the possibilities for future expan­
sion. The discussion will be concerned chiefly with water­
borne commerce, both foreign and domestic, with some
reference to foreign shipments of the Washington cus­
toms district by land and air carriers.3
The study will begin with a brief analysis of the econ­
omy of the Pacific Northwest with attention concentrated
on those aspects which are directly related to present
waterborne trade and its future development. An analysis
of the trends of waterborne trade, both foreign and do1 “ Waterborne Trade of California Ports,” Supplement to M o n t h l y R e v i e w ,
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, M ay 1951.
2 U nless otherwise specified, statistics cited in this study will be from the
Bureau of the Census, United States Department of Commerce.
3 Statistics of the Pacific Northwest’s waterborne foreign trade cited in this
article include all commercial vessel shipments laden or unladen at Pacific
Northwest ports. W aterborne exports, in addition to including- products
originating in the Pacific Northwest, also include goods transshipped to the
Pacific Northwest from other sections of the country for shipment abroad;
and waterborne imports include goods destined for other parts of the nation
in addition to goods which will remain in the Pacific Northwest.




1

Alaska, with most of the United States trade with Alaska
passing over the docks of Seattle. This injects into the pic­
ture additional factors which must be considered in a
study of the present and future trade prospects of the
Pacific Northwest.

value oi waterborne exports. During the same period
roughly two-thirds of United States exports and threefourths of California exports were covered by imports.
Thirdly, the Pacific Northwest— particularly Washing­
ton— is the major terminus for shipments to and from

THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST ECONOMY
he

reaching the California border. Approximately one-third
of the area of Oregon and Washington lies on the Pacific
side of the Cascades; the two-thirds on the eastern side
of the mountains is part of a plains area extending east­
ward to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. These two
areas differ greatly in climate, topography, and economic
development. On the Pacific side rainfall is abundant and
there are areas of dense forestation; on the inland side
rainfall is much lighter and irrigation is necessary to
make much of the land productive. Most industrial and
commercial development has taken place along the coastal
area, and it is here that lumbering developed along with
the related processing industries. The inland region, on
the other hand, has been the area of much agricultural
development; the flat topography of the region is par­
ticularly well suited to the production of grain. Thus,
while future industrial development undoubtedly will
take place, agriculture will continue to be important.
Industrial development will in all probability take place
primarily on the coastal slope, and there will be a move­
ment away from a purely extractive economy. The re­
maining areas, however, will continue to depend upon the
land for their products, with the possible exception of the
area in the vicinity of Spokane.

Pacific Northwest economy is still a “ young”

Teconomy in the sense that it is predominantly depend­
ent upon extractive industries based on the land, sea, and
forest. Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries are the main
sources of income, and the major part of such manufac­
turing as has developed stems from the processing and
manufacturing of the raw materials from these basic in­
dustries. It is the lack of diversification and the relatively
small manufacturing capacity which most clearly distin. guish the economy of the Pacific Northwest from that of
California.
Many of the characteristics and problems of raw ma­
terials producing regions are evident in the Pacific North­
west. Its location at one of the geographical extremities
of the nation places it far from the nation’s centers of pop­
ulation and markets. Transportation costs, therefore, are
of extreme importance. The Northwest possesses re­
sources, however, which enable it, despite the distance
disadvantage, to produce profitably raw materials and
food products which are in high demand both in domestic
and foreign markets. Its relatively isolated position has
also been a handicap in the development of diversified
large-scale manufacturing and in the sale of any surplus
of manufactured items in the more populous sections of
the nation. Furthermore, because of its relatively small
population— the population of Oregon and Washington
combined is only one-third that of California, the local
market has not been large enough to justify the estab­
lishment of any extensive manufacturing capacity.

A new factor which may have an important effect on
future development in the Pacific Northwest is the recent
discovery of large petroleum and gas reserves in western
Canada. These reserves are rapidly being developed into
producing fields, and present plans are to bring both gas
and petroleum into the Pacific Northwest by pipeline.
Also planned is the construction of refinery capacity in
the Pacific Northwest to process Canadian crude. The
availability of a new and nearby source of petroleum is
extremely fortunate and timely. In the past the bulk of
the petroleum demands of the region has been supplied
by California producers. The ability of California to con­
tinue to supply the increasing demand in the Pacific
Northwest, however, has been questioned in recent years.
Those showing concern over this matter point out that
California has had to import larger and larger amounts of
foreign crude oil from such far away areas as Borneo and
Sumatra in order to maintain output at recent levels.

While the economy of the Northwest continues to dis­
play the characteristics of a “ young” economy, there are
evidences that basic changes are occurring. The develop­
ment of a more diversified economy was greatly stimu­
lated by the unusual demands of W orld War II, and this
has continued during the postwar period although at a
reduced rate. More recently, with the conflict in Korea
and our large-scale rearmament program, it appears that
unusual demand conditions will once more accelerate the
economic development of the Northwest.
It has already been noted that the relatively isolated
position of the Pacific Northwest in relation to the rest of
the nation has had an important effect on the type of econ­
omy which has developed. Within the region, too, geogra­
phy has played an important role in the course of eco­
nomic development. Oregon and Washington are divided
into two parts by the Cascade Mountains, the range which
divides to form the Sierra and the Coastal Range upon




The availability of natural gas for the first time, a large
nearby supply of petroleum, and an estimated 40 percent
of the nation’s potential hydroelectric power should pro­
vide the Pacific Northwest with ample alternative power
sources and thus a .base for future economic development.
2

FOREIGN TRADE1
rom

the case of the increase in value, most of the increase in
shipping weight of waterborne trade during the postwar
period was the result of the exceptionally large expansion
in exports during 1951. As recently as 1950, however, the
shipping weight of Pacific Northwest exports was still 18
percent below the 1938 level.
The foreign trade of the United States has expanded
relatively more than the value of total output, but this has
not been true in the Pacific Northwest. It has been said
that the increase in the foreign trade of the Pacific North­
west should have been greater during the postwar period
in view of the economic development of the region. Such
a view, while it has some merit, lacks significance unless
consideration is given to the lines of activity in which out­
put is expanding, the ability of the Pacific Northwest to
produce a surplus for foreign export over regional and
national demands, and the need for and ability to absorb
increasing imports. Analysis of the economy of the region
indicates that a significant part of the expansion of pro­
duction has occurred in commodities for which there is a
large domestic demand and which do not require large
imports of raw materials.

the end of World War II through 1950 the for­

eign trade of the Pacific Northwest— like that of Cali­
F
fornia— failed to keep pace with the rapidly expanding

trade of the country as a whole. In 1951 total foreign
trade of the Pacific Northwest amounted to $740 million,
almost 3 percent of a national total of $26 billion. While
the Pacific Northwest’s share of the nation’s foreign trade
was about the same in 1951 as in 1938, between 1938 and
1950 it had declined to little more than 2 percent. The
regional improvement in 1951 resulted from a larger gain
in exports than occurred nationally. Actually the Pacific
Northwest’s share of United States exports closely paral­
leled the region’s share of the nation’s total trade over the
period 1938-51, falling from over 3 percent in 1938 to
about 2 percent in 1950 and returning to 3.2 percent last
year. Imports, which are much less important than ex­
ports to the Pacific Northwest, rose moderately, however,
from less than 2 percent in 1938 to 2.4 percent in 1950
and 2.3 percent in 1951.
While the value of total foreign trade in the Pacific
Northwest was over five times as large in 1951 as before
the war, in terms of shipping weight the foreign trade of
the Pacific Northwest showed more modest gains. The
shipping weight of Pacific Northwest waterborne foreign
trade in 1951 was 112 percent above the 1938 level, com­
pared with a 118 percent increase for the United States
for the same period. The export tonnage of the Pacific
Northwest increased 150 percent between 1938 and 1951,
while the gain nationally was only 86 percent. In contrast,
import tonnage rose only 44 percent in the Pacific North­
west compared with a national gain of 173 percent. As in

The Pacific Northwest’s share of
Pacific Coast foreign trade

The figures given above indicate that concern over the
ability of the Pacific Northwest to maintain its share of
the nation’s foreign trade has, at least for the time being,
been mitigated to some extent. Foreign traders in the
Northwest also can take some comfort in the fact that
their region has fared well in comparison with the rest
of the Pacific Coast. In terms of the value of total trade,
the Pacific Northwest handled approximately 25 percent
of the Pacific Coast’s foreign trade in 1938; this share in­
creased to about 35 percent in 1951. In terms of shipping
weight, the region’s share increased from 19 percent in
1938 to 33 percent in 1951, but this share has fluctuated
considerably during the postwar years. The Pacific

1 Over-all comparisons of the value of foreign trade with prewar years are
based on trade by all methods of transportation (vessel, rail, truck, and
air), since comparable prewar value figures for waterborne trade are not
available. For value comparisons by commodity composition and country
distribution, it has been necessary to use trade by all methods of trans­
portation for prewar years and waterborne trade for postwar years. Ship­
ping weight comparisons with prewar years, on the other hand, refer only
to waterborne shipments, since shipping weight of trade by all methods is
not available. For additional information concerning these two series and
the problems of comparability, see the discussion of trade with Canada on
page 13 and footnote 1, page 24.

W a t e r b o r n e F o r e ig n T r a d e o f W a s h i n g t o n a n d O r e g o n
1938 and 1947-51
i __

---------- V a lu e

E x p o rts :
W ashington ................. ..........
Oregon ........................... ..........

Pacific Coast3 ............ ..........
United States4 .......... ..........

19381
60.6
32.0

millions
1948
124.1
63.0

in

ui uuimia
1949
1950
99.2
69.7
69.6
76.1

19512
155.5
237.4

1938
1,883.2
2,022.1

Shipping
1947
2,960.0
4,495.9

1950
1,371.0
1,850.9

1949
1,466.6
1,473.2

19512
3,432.1
6,322.0

312.1

187.1

168.8

145.8

392.9

3,905.3

7,455.9

3,434.9

2,939.8

3,221.9

9,754.1

633.3

740.1

666.2

1,104.4

26,359.1

20,685.4

13,846.4

13,558.2

14,508.7

29,710.2

3,094.4 11,026.3

8,887.2

8,474.8

7,053.5 10,088.3

124,571.2

248,636.6

176,623.2

14 3 , 7 2 9 . 2

124,912.0

231,148.2

51.6
18.8

65.9
14.8

62.9
14.7

97.8
29.1

1,930.3
207.9

1,730.0
181.5

2,425.6
123.2

2,593.8
112.5

3,116.4
208.2

2,803.1
272.3

7.4

Total ........................... ..........

61.7

1,960.4

85.9
23.8

70.4

80.7

77.6

109.7

126.9

2,138.2

1,911.5

2,548.8

2,706.3

3,324.6

3,075.4

400.5

437.2

436.1

620.7

795.2

4,846.0

4,699.1

5,655.4

6,957.5

7 ,9 2 3 .6

9,015.9

4,367.5

5,197.3

4,964.8

6,762.8

8,460.2

73,512.8

118,130.6

134,832.4

154,741.8

191,707.2

200,931.2

1 United States A rm y Engineers, Annual Report, 1938.
2 Preliminary.
3 Includes the customs districts of San D iego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oregon, and Washington.
‘ Value figures for the United States for 1938 include trade by all types of transportation.
N o te : Figures may not add to totals because of rounding.
Sources: United States Maritime Commission, Report N o. 295, W a t e r b o r n e F o r e i g n a n d D o m e s t i c C o m m e r c e
ment of Commerce, F o r e i g n C o m m e r c e a n d N a v i g a t i o n ; Bureau of the Census, Report F T 972, W a t e r b o r n e
A rm y Engineers, A n n u a l R e p o r t o f W a t e r b o r n e C o m m e r c e .




LU1U1UU9 \JL p . D u u u a --------------

1948
2,037.1
1,397.8

944.7

374.3

Im ports:
W ashington .................
Oregon ........................... ..........

United States4 .......... ..........

1947
155.4
156.7

3

o f th e
T ra d e

U n ite d
by

S ta te s;

U n ite d

United States Depart­
P o r t ; United States

S ta te s

Northwest’s portion of the Pacific Coast’s trade reached
a peak of 37 percent in 1947 and declined to 27 percent in
1949 before again turning upward. These fluctuations are
important because they reflect some of the primary rea­
sons why the Northwest has been able to obtain an in­
creased share of Pacific Coast trade in certain years. The
reasons are related to the nature of world trade during the
years following W orld War II and the nature of Pacific
Northwest exports.
The nature of postwar world trade and
its effect on Pacific Northwest trade

Postwar world trade has been characterized by two
basic factors. First, the channels of foreign trade have
been filled primarily with materials needed for recon­
struction and development and large shipments of food­
stuffs to feed hungry peoples in countries where produc­
tion was inadequate. This demand for the most part re­
lates directly to the effects of W orld War II. A vast job
of reconstruction was necessary to restore production in
war devastated areas. Development programs were essen­
tial because in many parts of the world standards of living
that were already low were further reduced during the
war years by the diversion of the world’s resources to the
conduct of war. It became essential to carry forward such
development programs, too long delayed, if political and
economic stability were to be realized. In the case of food
shipments, it should be noted that in many countries agri­
cultural production was far below prewar levels. The in­
adequacy of food production was made more acute by
swollen populations, particularly in the Far East where a
restoration of even more than prewar production was
necessary.
The second primary characteristic of postwar trade has
been the importance of United States foreign aid pro­
grams. At the end of the war, virtually the only country
capable of producing the needed surplus of essential com­
modities was the United States. In addition, the countries
requiring these imports were unable to pay for them
either by drawing on reserves or by exports. Production
was inadequate, and reserve balances had been depleted
during the war. Not only was production insufficient to
provide the exports necessary to finance the imports re­
quired to satisfy minimum domestic demands, but addi­
tional large imports were also needed for reconstruction
purposes. Our various foreign aid programs made it pos­
sible to supply these essential imports and to maintain a
volume of trade which otherwise would not have been
possible. During the postwar period the value of United
States exports has greatly exceeded the amount being
paid for by our imports from the rest of the world. The
gap has been filled primarily by dollar aid.
A world trade situation characterized by the problems
just outlined has placed the Pacific Northwest in an ad­
vantageous position. The region is an important producer
and exporter of food and raw materials. During the post­
war period approximately three-fourths of the value of
Pacific Northwest waterborne exports was accounted for




by foodstuffs and lumber products, foodstuffs alone ac­
counting for over half. Among food exports, wheat was
by far the most important.
Exports of California ports, in contrast to those of the
Pacific Northwest, were not so predominantly of an es­
sential nature. During the prewar period, they included
many semiluxury items which could be sacrificed in times
of stringency and commodities that could be obtained
from nondollar sources in order to conserve dollars for
other products obtainable only from the United States.
These conditions have enabled the Pacific Northwest to
obtain a larger portion of the Pacific Coast’s foreign trade
since the war.
A further indication of the importance of this differ­
ence in the commodity composition of Pacific Northwest
exports and those of California is the fact that the Pacific
Northwest’s share of total Pacific Coast trade fluctuated
directly with changes in United States foreign economic
aid. In 1947, when the Northwest’s share of the Pacific
Coast waterborne trade reached a postwar peak, foreign
economic aid also was at its peak. In subsequent years, as
programs of economic assistance were curtailed and pro­
duction of food and basic materials increased abroad, its
share decreased. With the advent of the Korean War in
1950, the Pacific Northwest’s share increased again. This
most recent increase reflected the increased world de­
mand for basic materials in addition to larger grain ex­
ports to famine-threatened India and other Asian coun­
tries where food supplies have been restricted, either
directly or indirectly, as a result of armed conflict and
political unrest.
The importance of foreign aid shipments

Foreign aid shipments have obviously been of signifi­
cant importance to the Pacific Northwest. However, the
figures cited thus far do not include all foreign aid ship­
ments. They include only regular commercial shipments
and those shipments made under our various foreign aid
programs on commercial vessels. They do not include the
so-called “ Department of Defense controlled cargoes,”
which consist of cargoes exported from the United States
on United States flag vessels, such as Army or Navy
transports and vessels chartered by the Department of
Defense, excluding “ military shipments” for use of our
armed forces abroad. The foreign aid shipments trans­
ported on Department of Defense controlled vessels have
not been included in the figures so far cited because no
value figures are available. Data on shipping weight, how­
ever, are available for recent years and show that foreign
aid shipments of this type are of considerable importance.
The period covered by the available data is from 1948 to
date. During this period, a peak of 5 billion pounds was
shipped in 1949. The amount has since decreased as our
special programs of foreign economic aid have been cur­
tailed. Total shipments fell to 1.5 billion pounds in 1950
and amounted to only 930 million pounds in 1951.
That foreign aid shipments have been relatively im­
portant to the Pacific Northwest is indicated by the fact

4

times. The ports of the Pacific Northwest are of consid­
erable military importance because of their geographic
position. Those of the Puget Sound region are the closest
United States ports to the Far East by the Great Circle
route. Consequently, they were important cogs in our
pursuit of the Pacific phase of World War II and also
during the occupation period. With the advent of the
Korean War, military shipments have assumed greater
importance, particularly through the Port of Seattle, the
port of embarkation for the Pacific Northwest.

that while in 1951 its ports handled only slightly more
than 4 percent of the total tonnage of United States com­
mercial waterborne exports, its share of Department of
Defense controlled foreign aid shipments amounted to
12 percent of the national total. Similarly, in 1951 the
Northwest ports handled, by weight, one-third of all com­
mercial shipments of Pacific Coast waterborne exports
but more than half of these special foreign aid shipments.
As previously indicated, the tonnage of Pacific North­
west waterborne exports was still below the prewar level
as late as 1950, and it was not until 1951 that this situ­
ation was reversed. The inclusion of Department of De­
fense controlled foreign aid cargo, however, would more
than offset this decline for the years 1948 through 1950,
but such shipments played a minor role in the spectacular
increase of 200 percent in export tonnage in 1951. The
large increase in commercial exports in 1951 did include,
however, large grain shipments to India under the loan
authorized by the India Emergency Food Act of 1951.
Most Department of Defense foreign aid shipments
have consisted of grain and other foodstuffs and lumber—
essential goods which have bulked large in United States
programs. The majority of the shipments from the Pacific
Northwest have been destined for the Far East, with
Japan by far the most important single recipient. While
there were some direct shipments from Northwest ports
to Europe, there have probably been additional shipments
of the region’s grain and lumber through East Coast
ports. The amount of such additional shipments, however,
cannot be determined because the statistics reveal only
the port of lading and do not show the state of origin.

Com m odify Composition of Pacific Northwest
Foreign Trade
The Pacific Northwest is still predominantly a raw ma­
terials producing economy, and agricultural and forestry
products dominate its exports. Wheat and lumber are by
far the most important waterborne exports of the region.
The principal imports consist of a large variety of manu­
factured items, green coffee, copper ores and concen­
trates, and, strangely enough, wood and paper products.
Exports
Food products dominate exports

Food products comprise the most important commod­
ity group in the waterborne exports of the Pacific North­
west. Moreover, their importance has been increasing.
In the years immediately preceding W orld W ar II, ex­
ports of food products accounted for slightly more than
40 percent of the value of total exports. By 1950 food
exports had risen to over half of the total value and for
the first half of 1951 accounted for nearly two-thirds.

Military shipments from the Pacific Northwest

P A C IF IC N O R T H W E S T W A T E R B O R N E E X P O R T S O F
S E L E C T E D C O M M O D I T IE S , 1938 A N D 1950

In appraising the importance of the waterborne traffic
of the Pacific Northwest, a second qualification must be
made to the regular foreign trade statistics. In addition to
the Department of Defense controlled foreign aid cargoes
which are excluded from the commercial statistics, there
are the so-called “ military cargoes.” Military cargoes in­
clude all shipments on Department of Defense controlled
vessels, including Army, Navy, and private ships under
charter, that are for the use of our armed forces abroad.
While no statistics are available on military shipments,
they no doubt have been relatively important at particular
F o r e ig n

A

id

S h ip m e n t s 1

f r o m

t h e

P a c if ic

N

o r t h w

e s t

M illio n s o f
pounds

,

1 9 4 8 -5 1 *
(Shipping: weight in thousands of pounds)
W ashington

............

1948
1,069,824

1949
1,386,604

1950
405,114

1951
259,361

Oregon

...

............

1,479,040

3,701,249

1,113,558

670,727

Total

...

......................

2,548,864

5,087,853

1,518,672

930,088

1 “ Foreign aid shipments” include only export shipments under special for­
eign aid programs (such as Government and Relief in Occupied Areas
and the Economic Cooperation Administration) carried on vessels con­
trolled by the United States Department of Defense (either U . S. Gov­
ernment vessels or vessels under charter to the Department of Defense).
A n y cargo under foreign aid programs not under the control of the D e ­
partment of Defense is included in regular shipping statistics.
2 Figures since July 1950 include “ special category” exports, which are ex­
ports of strategic value not shown separately for national security reasons.
Source: United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census,
F T 976, D e p a r t m e n t o f D e f e n s e C o n t r o l l e d C a r g o .




W heat

W heat
flo u r

W heat

W heat

W ood

R e fin e d

flo u r

p u lp

Copper

Source: United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

5

nels. At the end of the 1951-52 crop year United States
sales under the Agreement were 254 million bushels com­
pared with 248 million bushels in the 1950-51 crop year
and 163 million bushels sold during the Agreement’s first
year of operation, 1949-50. The United States quota, or
its guaranteed exports, for the crop year beginning July 1,
1952 is 253 million bushels.

While it is true that the large postwar food exports re­
flected unusual demand conditions as a result of world­
wide food shortages, there are, nevertheless, indications
that such exports will continue in large volume for some
time to come.
Wheat is the most important Pacific Northwest export

Within the food group, exports of wheat are the most
important. Wheat exports through the Oregon customs
district, for example, amounted to two-thirds of the value
of food exports during recent years, accounting for 33
percent of the value of all exports in 1950 and 59 percent
in the first half of 1951.
Pacific Northwest (including Oregon, Washington,
and northern Idaho) waterborne exports of wheat
reached a high of 74.4 million bushels in the crop year
ending June 30, 1951, an amount equal to 20 percent of
total United States wheat exports during that time. This
was the largest volume exported from Pacific Northwest
ports since 1922 and was more than six times the 1935-39
average volume. Waterborne shipments during the 1951 52 crop year set new records when 117.7 million bushels
were exported, representing 26 percent of total United
States wheat exports.1
Wheat exports will probably continue in large volume
until international conditions become more stabilized
politically and economically. A large volume of wheat and
flour is currently being exported under United States De­
partment of Agriculture auspices and under the terms of
the International Wheat Agreement.2 The Department
of Agriculture exports include shipments under the vari­
ous programs of emergency relief and under the program
of the Economic Cooperation Administration and ac­
counted for two-thirds of all United States exports of
wheat and wheat flour in the 1948-49 crop year. For the
past two years, however, exports by the Department of
Agriculture have declined as United States programs of
foreign economic aid have tapered off. During the 195051 crop year United States Department of Agriculture
exports accounted for slightly more than one-third of all
United States exports of wheat and wheat flour.

Wheat flour exports in contrast to wheat grain exports
have shown little gain during the postwar period. While
the volume of wheat exports has expanded several fold
over the prewar level, the volume of wheat flour exports
from Washington declined 15 percent between 1938 and
1950 and increased only 11 percent in Oregon. Wheat
flour production in the Pacific Northwest has been de­
clining during the postwar period, and this decline has
been reflected in exports of flour. In the 1951 crop year
more wheat was used in the manufacture of flour in the
region than in the previous year, but prior to 1951 the
amount of wheat used in the manufacture of flour had
been decreasing steadily since 1946.
In an effort to bolster wheat flour exports, Congress
provided in the Economic Cooperation Act that at least
12.5 percent of all ECA-financed wheat exports had to
be in the form of flour. This requirement, however, was
repealed in the Act of 1950, when it was realized that it
was working to the disadvantage of United States wheat
producers. The ECA countries under the requirement
were using their free dollars to purchase wheat elsewhere
so that they could use their own milling facilities and thus
mill more of the husk, use the by-products, and retain the
milling revenue.
In general, even should the world return to more nor­
mal peacetime conditions, wheat and wheat flour exports
— particularly wheat — should continue in substantial
volume, although they will probably be below the peaks
of recent years. In the Pacific Northwest, as in the nation
as a whole, the future trend of wheat exports will be de­
termined primarily by domestic demand which will affect
the volume available for export, foreign trade policies
here and abroad, and the level of world grain production.
Other food exports

International Wheat Agreement sales under the direc­
tion of the Commodity Credit Corporation, on the other
hand, have moved primarily through commercial chan-

The remainder of the Pacific Northwest’s food exports
are mainly accounted for by fruits and vegetables. E x­
ports of fresh fruits and vegetables have gone primarily
to Canada, such exports benefiting greatly from the re­
cent reductions of Canadian restrictions against United
States imports. The Pacific Northwest accounts for an
important part of the 40 percent of total United States
fruit exports which have been going to Canada in recent
years.

1U . S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Port­
land, O re g o n : G r a i n S t o c k s — J u l y 1 , 1 9 5 2 .
2 The International W heat Agreem ent came into operation on August 1,
1949. The agreement is administered by the International W heat Council
composed of four wheat exporting countries (Australia, Canada, France,
and the United States) and some 42 importing countries. The Agreement
is designed to “ overcome the serious hardship caused to producers and con­
sumers by burdensome surpluses and critical shortages of wheat” and “ to
assure supplies of wheat to importing countries and markets for wheat to
exporting countries at equitable and stable prices.” A t the request of the
W h ea t Council, exporting countries are obliged to sell a specified amount
of wheat to importing members at the maximum price specified, and, on
the other hand, importing countries agree to buy specified amounts at the
minimum price. The Agreement comes into effect only when the market
price of wheat is at either the maximum or minimum price. The A gree­
ment has not altered the channels through which international trade in
wheat has taken place. In the United States sales are carried out through
regular commercial channels, but to enable wheat to be sold at the maxi­
mum price provided in the Agreement, export subsidies are paid to private
exporters by the Commodity Credit Corporation. The subsidy rate varies
with changes in the United States market price for wheat. Quotas and
prices are determined by the W h ea t Council for each crop year.




Most of the Pacific Northwest’s dried fruit exports
have gone to Europe.. As in the case of California, dried
fruit exports have not regained their prewar importance.
Dried fruits have been considered semiluxuries in the im­
porting countries, and available dollars have been spent
on more essential commodities. A future expansion of
6

these exports, therefore, must await more prosperous
conditions in Europe and some alleviation of present dol­
lar stringencies.
A promising area of possible expansion is the export of
frozen fruits and vegetables. Such exports, however, will
also be considered semiluxuries and will be subject to the
same difficulties as dried fruit exports. The development
of this trade, nevertheless, does offer an opportunity for
the expansion of foreign markets for fresh fruits and
vegetables through the reduction of costs obtained by
mass freezing and packaging.

30 percent in 1950, the value increasing from $6.2 million
to $23 million.
Within the commodity group of wood and paper prod­
ucts, lumber is the most important single product. Other
significant exports within the group are paper and paper
board, shingles, plywood, and box shooks. Lumber ex­
ports for the three prewar years 1937-39 averaged 432
million board feet per year and for the postwar years
1946-51, 428 million board feet.
During the period following W orld War II lumber ex­
ports compared favorably with prewar years in spite of
the effects of dollar shortages and quantitative restrictions
on trade. United States foreign aid and the urgent need
for lumber for construction succeeded in overcoming
these postwar difficulties. Nevertheless, a declining part
of total lumber production has been exported because of
the high level of domestic demand and the fact that the
foreign market is for all practical purposes a residual
market. The lumber industry depends in the final analysis
on the level of domestic activity, particularly in the con­
struction industry and in other industrial uses. The vol­
ume of lumber exports depends upon the availablity of
lumber after domestic demands are met. This does not
necessarily mean, however, that lumber exports expand
in times of slack domestic demand. On the contrary, lum­
ber production is characteristically very flexible, and pro­
duction is not maintained in the face of declines in domes­
tic demand.

W ood and paper products rank second am ong exports

The products of the Pacific Northwest’s forests are the
second most important commodity group in the region’s
waterborne foreign exports. The significant role of forest
products follows naturally from the importance of the
forest industry to the area. In both 1938 and 1950 exports
of wood and paper products comprised about one-fifth or
more of the total value of Pacific Northwest waterborne
exports. The trends in Oregon and Washington were not
the same, however, as production has been increasing in
Oregon and decreasing in Washington. These basic
changes have been reflected in the value of exports of the
two states. Between 1938 and 1950 the value of Washing­
ton’s exports of wood and paper products decreased from
$13.5 million to $11.4 million, and their relative share of
total exports decreased from 20 percent to 16 percent.
In Oregon wood and paper products amounted to 22
percent of the value of total exports in 1938 and rose to

Other exports

In the most recent years exports of food and forestry
products have accounted for approximately 85 percent of
the value of the Pacific Northwest’s waterborne foreign
exports, with two commodities, wheat and lumber, ac­
counting for two-thirds of the total in the first six months
of 1951. Of the remaining 15 percent, there is no particu­
lar commodity or commodity group which stands out,
with the exception of copper exports through the Wash­
ington customs district.
Exports of refined copper and copper manufactures
amounted to $10.6 million in 1950 and accounted for 7
percent of the value of Pacific Northwest exports in that
year. The importance of copper exports, however, has
declined markedly since prewar years. In 1938 copper
exports totaled $14.8 million, 15 percent of the total ex­
port value. Virtually all of the copper exported by the
region has moved through the Washington customs dis­
trict where the importance of copper exports has been
much greater than for the region as a whole. Exports of
copper and copper products accounted for roughly onefourth of the exports of the Washington customs district
in the years immediately preceding World War II but
only 15 percent of the total value in 1950.

P A C I F I C N O R T H W E S T P R O D U C T IO N A N D W A T E R B O R N E
S H I P M E N T S O F L U M B E R ,1 1937-512

1

M
illionso
board feet

1 Softwood only.
2 Data on waterborne shipments not available for 1942 through 1944.
N o te : This chart is plotted on a logarithmic scale on which equal vertical
distances represent equal percent changes rather than equal absolute
amounts.
Sources: United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, L u m b e r
P r o d u c t i o n in t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , 1 7 9 9 - 1 9 4 6 ; Pacific Lum ber Inspection
Bureau, Inc.




Production of refined copper in the Pacific Northwest
has shown a long run decline primarily because of diffi­
culties in obtaining suitable ores and has resulted in re­
duced exports of finished copper and its products. The

7

PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF OREGON W ATERBORNE
FOREIGN TR AD E BY VALU E, BY COM M O D ITY GROUP, 1950

Exports

PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF W ASH ING TON W ATERBORNE
FOREIGN TR AD E BY VALUE, BY C O M M O D ITY GROUP, 1950

Imports

Source: United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

Source: United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

copper refineries of the region, particularly the tidewater
refinery at Tacoma, have faced increasing competition as
refineries have been constructed abroad. In addition, an
excise tax has been imposed on copper imports, including
ores and crude copper imported for smelting or refining.
This duty was suspended between April 30, 1947 and
June 1950, and again since April 1, 1951 for the duration
of the present national emergency or until February 15,
1953, whichever is earlier. During the periods in which it
has been in effect, however, it has had an adverse effect
on the Tacoma refinery, which depends primarily on
foreign ores.
A further adverse factor, although probably one of
short duration, is the fact that the imposition of price
controls following the outbreak of conflict in Korea re­
sulted in a domestic ceiling price on copper considerably
below the world price. Only in recent months has this gap
been narrowed. In addition, the ceiling price on copper
products containing foreign ores has recently been raised
after the termination of the agreement on copper exports
between Chile and the United States. Effective July 1,
1952, primary users of refined foreign copper are per­
mitted an adjustment in their prices of 80 percent of any
increase in the cost of foreign copper above the ceiling
price on domestic copper.
As a result of these two factors, there has been an in­
crease in the importance of custom refining at Tacoma
for foreign accounts. Under these conditions, copper ores
and concentrates are imported under bond for refining
and re-export, thus avoiding the difficulties of both the
tax during periods when it was effective and the ceiling
prices. It is doubtful, however, that such custom refining
will be of continuing importance. Because of the trans­
portation charges involved, it would only be under con­
ditions of unusually strong demand that such re-exports
of foreign copper might assume important proportions.
Thus, in view of recent reductions in the price of copper
abroad and barring the outbreak of new armed conflict,
it is doubtful that such exports will assume more than
modest levels, although some custom refining for foreign
account will continue.

The overriding factor, however, in the future of copper
exports will be the level of domestic demand. A continu­
ation of the present high demand for copper in this coun­
try, stimulated by the rearmament program, will restrict
the availability of copper for export.




Imports

In analyzing the commodity composition of Pacific
Northwest waterborne foreign imports, it should be re­
membered that imports are far less important to the
region’s economy than exports. This preponderant im­
portance of exports has existed throughout the history of
the region. For the postwar years 1947-51 the total value
of imports averaged less than half the value of exports
and in 1951 amounted to only one-third the value of
exports.
There is also a larger variety of commodities among
the Pacific Northwest’s imports in comparison to the
export situation, where two commodities, lumber and
wheat, account for a large part of the total value.
Metals and metal manufactures, the most important
import commodify group

During 1950 imports of metals and metal manufactures
totaled $30.3 million and were by far the most important
import commodity group, accounting for roughly 28 per­
cent of the value of total imports. Similar imports during
1938 and 1939 amounted to only $2 million in each year,
about 5 percent of total imports.
Copper, consisting of ore, concentrates, and scrap, was
the most important commodity within the metals and
metal manufactures group, and it was also the most im­
portant single commodity imported by the region in 1950.
Copper imports totaled $18.3 million in 1950, while they
averaged less than $1 million annually in 1938 and 1939.
The 1950 copper imports represented slightly less than
17 percent of the value of all imports. This large increase
in imports of copper reflects the increasing dependence on
foreign ores and crude copper of the Tacoma copper re­
finery which is now depending almost completely upon
imports of foreign raw materials.

8

Imports of wood and paper products

Imports of vegetable food products
dominated by coffee

Although the forestry industry is the most important
in the Pacific Northwest, the region still is an important
importer of such products. A large part of these water­
borne foreign imports of wood and paper products come
from British Columbia and enter, for the most part,
through the Washington customs district. In many re­
spects British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest form
a single economic unit, and the boundary between them
has little economic meaning. In resources they are quite
similar, and the industries of both are based largely upon
agriculture, forestry, mining, and fishing. The close eco­
nomic relationship between these two areas, lying on
opposite sides of the United States-Canadian border, has
been furthered by Canada’s reduction of restrictions on
United States imports and by the fact that United States
imports of Canadian wood and paper products are almost
all duty free. With these similarities and minimum restric­
tions on the flow of trade, it might logically be expected
that some integration would take place. Furthermore, the
depletion of virgin stands of timber in the Washington
area has accelerated this development.
The value of imports of wood and paper products is
considerably above the prewar value. From 1938 to 1939
they increased about 50 percent to a total of $12.5 million
and in 1950 amounted to slightly under $19 million. In
spite of the increase in value, however, the relative im­
portance of wood and paper imports to total imports has
decreased. While in 1939 such imports amounted to 29
percent of the total value of imports, in 1950 this share
had declined to 17 percent.
Among the Pacific Northwest’s imports of wood and
paper products are logs, lumber, pulpwood, wood pulp,
and newsprint. In 1950 the most important imports were
logs and newsprint, which together accounted for twothirds of the value of total imports in this commodity
group.

The second most important commodity group among
the Northwest’s waterborne imports is the vegetable
foods and beverages classification. Thus foodstuffs, which
are the leading export of the Pacific Northwest, also play
an important role on the import side. Furthermore, just
as food exports are dominated by a single commodity—
wheat, food imports are similarly dominated by one com­
modity— coffee. The total value of Pacific Northwest im­
ports of vegetable food products amounted to $20 million
in 1950, and coffee imports accounted for more than
three-quarters of this total. These 1950 figures represent
rather significant changes from the prewar situation.
Vegetable food products as a group have approximately
doubled in value over the prewar years 1938-39; they
have declined somewhat in importance compared with
other imports, however. While in 1938 this group led all
other commodity groups and accounted for more than
25 percent of the total value of imports, its share had
declined to 19 percent by 1950. At the same time, how­
ever, imports of coffee increased sevenfold in value. In­
creases in the value of coffee imports have offset a large
part of the decrease in other vegetable food products, par­
ticularly sugar imports. Coffee imports are now the domi­
nant import within the group in contrast to the prewar
situation when they accounted for less than one-quarter
of the value of vegetable food imports.
Coffee imports during the first half of 1951 continued
to expand and exceeded the total for the entire year 1950
by a considerable margin. For this half-year period, coffee
accounted for $19 million of total vegetable food imports
of $21 million, and thus it appears that in 1951 vegetable
food imports may have been the most important import
commodity classification and coffee the most important
import commodity.
P A C I F I C N O R T H W E S T W A T E R B O R N E IM P O R T S O F
S E L E C T E D C O M M O D I T IE S , 1938 A N D 1950]

Other imports

Millions of pounds

Two additional broad classifications of waterborne
foreign imports should be mentioned— edible animal
products and textile fibres and manufactures. Of these
two, the first has shown an increase in relative importance
during the postwar period, while the second has shown a
decrease.
Imports of edible animal products, which in 1938
amounted to about $2 million, had increased to $14 million
by 1950. At the same time, their importance in the total
import picture increased from 5 percent of all imports in
1938 to 13 percent in 1950. Most important within this
group were imports of canned fish and fresh and frozen
fish for immediate consumption or for processing in Pa­
cific Northwest canneries.
On the other hand, while textile fibers and textile
manufactures increased in value from $7 million in 1938
to $11 million in 1950, their relative importance decreased
from 18 percent of total imports to 10 percent. Because

*N o imports in 1950.
#N o imports in 1938.
Source : United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.




9

of the needs of agriculture in the Northwest, vegetable
fibers such as burlap and jute bagging were the most im­
portant products in this commodity group, such imports
accounting for roughly half of the total value for the
group in recent years. These imports, however, are below
the prewar level and reflect in part the increase in bulk
shipments of grain, with a consequent decrease in the
need for bagging.

nomic unrest, and military activity have impeded the
recovery of the nations of the Far East. Added to these
difficulties is the fact that the emphasis of most of the
United States foreign economic aid programs has been on
Europe and not the Far East.1
While the problems of trade recovery with the Far East
have generally affected all the Pacific Coast ports, the
Pacific Northwest has had certain advantages over Cali­
fornia. The Pacific Northwest exports mainly bulk
cargoes, such as lumber and wheat, for which demand has
been especially strong during the postwar years; and a
large proportion of this demand has been satisfied through
United States grants-in-aid to finance exports which
otherwise would not have been possible.

The Pacific Northw est’s Trading Partners
The importance of trade with the Far East

The Pacific Northwest’s most important trading part­
ner is Asia, particularly the Far East, which includes
Southern, Southeastern, and Eastern Asia. The Far East
accounted for more than half of the total value of all Pa­
cific Northwest foreign trade in 1938 and 1939. Its share
of the region’s trade, however, decreased somewhat in the
postwar period, although it remained the most important
trading area. In 1950 the Far East accounted for 35 per­
cent of Pacific Northwest waterborne foreign commerce.
This share increased to over 45 percent during the first
half of 1951, reflecting in part the unusual demands asso­
ciated with armed conflict in Asia and increasing rearma­
ment.
The Far East has been both the chief market for Pacific
Northwest exports and a major source of imports. This
region has more than regained its prewar position of im­
portance as a market for Pacific Northwest commodities.
In 1938 about 35 percent of the Northwest’s exports went
to the Far East, with the share rising to 39 percent in
1950 and to 52 percent in the first half of 1951.

Pacific Northwest ports, particularly those of the Puget
Sound area, have an additional advantage in their trade
with the Far East— a time and distance advantage over
all other United States ports, including those of Cali­
fornia. The Great Circle route up toward Alaska and
down to Japan places the Northwest hundreds of miles
closer than any other United States port. Shipments by
air over this shorter route have also been found feasible,
and thus a promising new field of expansion for Pacific
Northwest-Far Eastern trade has been opened.
The future of Pacific Northwest-Far Eastern trade
depends on several factors. Fundamentally, the prime
prerequisite is the cessation of armed hostilities in the
Orient and the restoration of economic and political sta­
bility. When this goal is attained, the nations of Asia will
be in a better position to expand their production of
exportable goods and to improve their standards of living
and levels of national income, with a resultant increase
in their ability to import. The Pacific Northwest should
be able to share substantially in any increase in United
States-Far Eastern trade and may be able to increase its
share through the development of a transshipment trade
to and from other sections of the United States by capital­
izing on its proximity to the Orient. Through greater
diversification the Pacific Northwest may be able to pro­
vide directly from its own economy more of the types of
goods needed by the Far East while continuing the ship­
ment of foodstuffs and forest products.

As a supplier of Pacific Northwest imports, however,
the Far East has not recovered its prewar share. Before
the war the Far East was the origin of over 40 percent of
total imports and was by far the most important supply­
ing area. In *the last year or two, however, less than onethird of total imports came from the Far East, a slightly
smaller share than that of the Latin American countries.
To a major extent the health of the Pacific Northwest’s
foreign waterborne trade is dependent upon economic
conditions in the Far East. This dependence explains in
large part why the Pacific Northwest’s foreign trade
lagged behind that of the nation in the earlier postwar
years. It was not until the upsurge in trade with the Far
East in the last year or two that the postwar growth in
total Pacific Northwest foreign trade compared favorably
with that of the nation. It should be remembered, how­
ever, that the recent expansion of shipments to the Far
East reflects unusual demand conditions and that the Far
East has not yet regained its prewar position as a supplier
of Pacific Northwest imports.

Trade with the Near East

Trade with the countries of the Near East has never
been of particular importance, although it has expanded
considerably in the postwar period. Postwar trade with
the Near East in large part reflects increased private in­
vestment in such countries as Iran, Iraq, and Saudi
Arabia. Development activities by American corpora­
tions, especially in the petroleum industry, have resulted
in an expansion of lumber shipments to that area. Lumber
shipments to the Near East, which were virtually non­
existent in the prewar period, reached a peak of 41.7 mil-

Like California ports, the ports of the Pacific North­
west have been adversely affected by the difficulties of
restoring trade with the Far East. The ravages of war,
problems of reconstruction, dollar shortages and other
foreign exchange problems, domestic political and eco­




1For a more complete discussion of the problems of trade with the Far East
see the Supplements to the M o n t h l y R e v i e w , “ Problems of Trade Recovery
in J a p a n /’ October 1950 and “ W aterborne Trade of California P orts,”
M ay 1951.

10

PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF W ASH INGTON W ATERBORNE
FOREIGN TRAD E BY VALU E, BY TRADE AREA, 1950

PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF OREGON WATERBORNE
FOREIGN TRAD E BY VALUE, BY TRAD E AREA, 1950

Source: United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

Source: United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

lion board feet in 1950, over 15 percent of the Pacific
Northwest’s exports of lumber in that year. Such ship­
ments, however, were down sharply in 1951 to 7.4 million
board feet as major construction projects were either
completed or curtailed. Postwar trade with the Near East,
Turkey in particular, also expanded as a result of United
States programs of economic and military aid. The value
of total Pacific Northwest trade with the Near East,
which amounted to less than $200,000 per year in 1938
and 1939, reached a total of $1.7 million in 1950.

age, the United Kingdom has made every effort to ob­
tain imports from nondollar sources, in order to conserve
dollars obtained through United States foreign aid and
from exports to the United States for the purchase from
the United States of essential products which cannot be
obtained elsewhere.
In contrast to the United Kingdom, the other countries
of Western Europe have increased the value of their im­
ports from the Pacific Northwest. This increase has oc­
curred even though these countries, too, have been faced
with postwar balance of payments problems, although
perhaps not so severe as those of the United Kingdom.
Exports to the Scandinavian countries, for example,
showed a small value increase from slightly under $3 mil­
lion in 1938 to slightly over $4 million in 1950, their share
of total Northwest exports remaining about the same in
the two years. Exports to all other Western European
countries increased in value from $20 million to $26 mil­
lion.
Lumber shipments to Western Europe from the Pacific
Northwest have been maintained at reasonably high levels
in terms of physical volume. Lumber shipments to the
United Kingdom and Belgium, which averaged 74 mil­
lion board feet in the prewTar years 1937-39, amounted to
80 million board feet in 1949, but were down to 56 mil­
lion board feet in 1950. However, 1951 was a banner year,
with lumber shipments to these two countries expanding
to a record level of 379 million board feet. This volume
can hardly be expected to continue because the conditions
which gave rise to the expansion were unusual. They
were a reflection of a more favorable exchange position
up to mid-1951 as well as fears as to the continuing avail­
ability of United States lumber if the Korean War should
spread. Since then these fears have moderated to a con­
siderable extent, and the European exchange position,
particularly in the United Kingdom, has deteriorated.

Pacific Northwest trade with Western Europe

Because of the importance to the Pacific Northwest
economy of wheat and lumber, which are also essential
imports in Western Europe, trade with this area is sub­
stantial in volume and value. The importance of the West­
ern European market to the Pacific Northwest is indi­
cated by the fact that its share of the value of total exports
is exceeded only by the Far East. On the import side,
however, Western Europe plays a relatively minor role.
Western Europe’s share of the Northwest’s exports
declined from 44 percent in 1938, when her share ex­
ceeded that of the Far East, to 30 percent or less in 1950
and 1951. The value of $43 million in 1938 was approxi­
mately the same as in 1950, while between those years the
total value of the Northwest’s exports expanded substan­
tially. Imports from Western Europe, on the other hand,
increased from $4.1 million in 1938 to $10.5 million in
1950, though its share of total Northwest imports de­
creased from 11 percent to 10 percent.
The decline in the relative importance of Western
Europe as a market for Pacific Northwest exports has
been largely the result of a reduction in shipments to the
United Kingdom, historically the most important Eu­
ropean market. The value of exports to the United King­
dom declined from $20 million in 1938 to $13 million in
1950, while that area’s share of total Northwest exports
declined from 20 percent to 9 percent. This rather drastic
reduction resulted from the serious balance of payments
difficulties which the United Kingdom has had since the
end of World War II. Because of her serious dollar short­




Shipments of lumber and wheat during the postwar
period have been made possible to a major extent by
ECA and other foreign aid programs. Europe’s reserve
position, especially that of the United Kingdom, through

11

Postwar trade with Latiu American countries, al­
though at a high level, has been subject to considerable
fluctuation. These countries have alternately experienced
periods of exchange difficulties and periods in which their
exchange situation was very favorable. Immediately fol­
lowing World War II the exchange position of most
Latin American countries was relatively strong because
of reserves built up during the war, but this led to a high
level of imports which in turn brought about exchange
difficulties as reserves of dollars and gold were drawn
down rapidly. Increasing exchange difficulties brought
about an increase in restrictions against dollar imports
and hence a reduction in such imports. More recently,
following the outbreak of the Korean War, the Latin
American countries again had a growth in reserves as a
result of the increase in demand and consequent price in­
creases for many of their exports. Because of this im­
proved exchange position, restrictions against United
States imports were relaxed, and for a second postwar
period imports from the United States were large. It now
appears that a reverse trend is again developing as a result
of a reduction in exchange earnings as the post-Korea
demands moderate, particularly in the United States. Fur­
thermore many Latin American countries are now well
stocked with United States goods owing to their large
purchases made in the months following the outbreak of
war in Korea, and some reduction might normally be
expected. While these fluctuations have had a general
effect on United States-Latin American trade, they have
closely influenced the Pacific Northwest’s trade with
Latin America.
Chile and Peru are both sources of copper ores and
crude copper for the Tacoma refinery. Such imports, al­
though they have increased markedly, have nevertheless
been subject to varying influences. Postwar strikes in the
South American copper mines and the development of
copper refineries in South America have tended to de­
crease the flow of copper ores to the Northwest. On the
other hand, a continuing high level of demand for refined
copper, greatly intensified by the Korean W ar and the
increased demands for copper for stockpiling and defense
purposes, has tended to increase imports of South Amer­
ican ores.
In spite of the somewhat erratic behavior of Pacific
Northwest-Latin American trade, the underlying post­
war trend has been upward, and there appears to be ample
opportunity for further expansion. Wheat and wheat
products of the Pacific Northwest may be able to gain
new markets in Latin America because improved stand­
ards of living resulting from programs of economic de­
velopment now underway should increase the demand
for such foods. Argentina has been the traditional sup­
plier of wheat to South America; but the postwar reduc­
tion of grain acreage in Argentina, adverse climatic con­
ditions, increased domestic requirements, and the highprice policies of the Argentina Trade Promotion Insti­
tute, a government monopoly, have resulted in a smaller
volume of exports. The Northwest has benefited from the

most of this period would otherwise have made possible
only shipments much smaller than those actually realized.
The dollar shortage has also contributed largely to the
decline of fruit and vegetable exports to Western Europe,
since such products are considered less essential and have
received less benefit from the various economic aid pro­
grams. Any expansion in fruit and vegetable exports will
depend largely on the availability of foreign exchange
over and above that necessary for more essential civilian
imports and for expanding defense and military expend­
itures.
Decreasing United States foreign economic aid and in­
creasing military expenditures by the nations of Western
Europe will have a direct effect on Pacific NorthwestWestern European trade. If dollar exchange is not readily
available, Europe may be forced to turn to other sources
of supply to a larger extent, with a consequent decline in
Pacific Northwest shipments. A factor which will have an
important bearing upon this is the future of trade between
Eastern and Western Europe.
The Soviet Union is currently embarked on a program
to increase trade between the “ iron curtain” countries
and the “ free” world, with particular emphasis on EastWest trade in Europe. In addition, there have been sev­
eral agreements covering trade in specified commodities
between Western European countries and the Sovietdominated countries. For example, two agreements were
negotiated in July and September 1951 by the United
Kingdom and the Soviet Union whereby the latter agreed
to ship timber and grain in specified amounts for pounds
sterling; such shipments, however, were made contin­
gent on the Soviet Union’s ability to obtain rubber from
the sterling area. If, in spite of the difficulties involved,
there is an expansion of East-West trade in Europe, it
can have an adverse effect on the Pacific Northwest’s
shipments of wheat and lumber to Europe.
Increasing importance of trade with Latin America

The Pacific Northwest’s postwar waterborne trade
with Latin American has expanded more than with any
other area and has been characterized by an import bal­
ance in recent years. The largest part of the increase since
prewar in total trade with Latin America has occurred
on the import side. Imports in 1950 were valued at ap­
proximately $34 million, over ten times the 1938-39 level.
As a result of this increase, Latin America became in 1950
the most important supplier of Pacific Northwest im­
ports, accounting for 31 percent of the total. Although
exports to Latin America expanded less than imports,
they nevertheless showed a significant gain and in 1950
amounted to $30 million, about six times the prewar level.
While trade with Latin America has made very favor­
able gains, it is restricted commodity-wise on both the
export and import sides. A major share of the increase
in imports from Latin America can be accounted for by
increased coffee and copper ore imports. Exports to Latin
America, on the other hand, have consisted largely of
forest and agricultural products.




12

failure of Argentina to supply its traditional markets in
South America; this advantage may prove to be a tempo­
rary one, however.

CoM PARISON OF W A S H IN G T O N 'S WATERBORNE TRADE AND TRADE
by all

(in millions of dollars)
W aterborne trade
Exports ..............................................
Imports ..............................................

Moreover, in many Latin American countries there are
plans for the expansion of wheat acreage and the encour­
agement of flour milling through import restrictions on
flour. These restrictions may have an adverse effect on
the Northwest's exports. Even now Brazilian flour mills
are providing competition for North American mills. The
over-all increase in the consumption of wheat and wheat
flour, however, will probably continue to exceed domestic
production in these countries for some time to come. The
countries of Central America and Mexico will most prob­
ably provide the largest markets because there Argentina
has not been an important supplier in the past and con­
sumption has been increasing substantially in those areas.

Total

..............................................

1947
155.4
51.6

1948
124.1
65.9

1949
99.2
62.9

1950
69.7
85.9

19511
155.5
97.8

207.0

190.0

162.1

155.6

253.3

224.7
101.1

185.6
146.7

147.1
141.0

116.3
185.0

246.4
220.1

325.8

332.3

288.1

301.3

466.5

A ll methods of
transportation
Exports ..............................................
Imports ..............................................
Total

..............................................

1 Preliminary.
Sources: United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census,
F T 972, W a t e r b o r n e T r a d e b y U n i t e d S t a t e s P o r t ; F T 970, F o r e i g n T r a d e
by

C u s to m s D i s t r i c t ; Q u a r te r ly S u m m a r y o f F o r e ig n

C om m erce.

ever. Our primary concern is with the waterborne trade
of the Pacific Northwest. Shipments by vessel cover vir­
tually all of the foreign trade of the region with the ex­
ception of one country— Canada. In assessing the im­
portance of trade with Canada, concern solely with water­
borne trade would not present the complete picture and
would obscure the fact that there has been a change in
the importance of the types of carriers used in this trade
in the postwar period compared with the prewar period,
land carriers having assumed a much more important
role in recent years. The problem, however, is not simply
one of a choice of statistics which show foreign trade by
vessel or statistics covering all types of carriers.

Lumber and paper products from the Pacific North­
west, as well as wheat, should be able to take advantage
of the availability of cheaper transportation to the west
coast of South and Central America because of the ab­
sence of canal tolls. The high demand for and strategic
value of copper should maintain imports of copper concen­
trates from South America, and the present high levels of
consumption should assure continued imports of coffee.
During the postwar period the Pacific Northwest has
obtained an opening wedge in the Latin American trade,
which previously was relatively unimportant to the re­
gion. This trade probably can be expanded further by
increasing the variety of goods interchanged by the two
areas. Not only would this increase the total flow of trade
but it would tend to eliminate some of the wide fluctu­
ations which usually accompany a trade dependent on a
few basic commodities. While this statement might be
applied generally to Pacific Northwest foreign trade, it is
particularly apparent in the region’s trade with Latin
America.

The United States Department of Commerce releases
two types of foreign trade statistics, one covering water­
borne foreign trade and the other covering foreign trade
by all methods of transportation, including vessel, rail,
truck, and air. Comparisons, however, are made difficult
by the fact that the two series differ in the manner in
which exports and imports are accredited to the various
customs districts.1 In spite of this shortcoming in the
statistics, it will be assumed that the difference between
Washington’s waterborne trade with Canada and trade
by all methods of transportation represents land and air
shipments to and from Canada. Unfortunately the De­
partment of Commerce series on waterborne foreign trade
is available only for the postwar years so that no com­
parison with trade by all methods of transportation in
prewar years is possible.

Washington s trade with Canada

As mentioned previously, the Pacific Northwest and
western Canada, with their similar topography, resources,
climate, and industries, form in a sense a single economic
unit with a political boundary separating the two areas.
Trade with Canada, moreover, consists in large part of an
interchange of commodities which are produced in both
areas but whose domestic production in one of the areas
is insufficient to satisfy its total demand. For example,
among Washington’s most important imports from
Canada have been animals and animal products, wood
and paper products, and copper ores, all of which are
produced in important quantities in both areas. Special­
ized agricultural products make up most of the remainder
of the trade.

In 1950 Washington’s waterborne imports from Can­
ada amounted to $28.8 million, over one-third of that dis­
trict’s total waterborne imports. Canada was more im­
portant than any other country or trade area as a supplier
of Washington’s imports. Canada’s share in the water­
borne imports of the Pacific Northwest as a whole was
approximately 27 percent of the total; this share was
1For waterborne trade statistics, exports are credited to the customs district
in which the cargoes are laden on shipboard while imports are credited to
the customs district of unlading. Thus, shipments which are transshipped
through a particular customs district from or to other parts of the country
are included in the waterborne trade of that district. In the case of foreign
trade by all methods of transportation, exports are credited to the customs
district from which the goods leave the country (except for vessel and air
shipments, which are credited to the district of lading) and thus include
also goods transshipped from other parts of the country. Imports, however,
are credited to the customs district in which the goods enter warehouses or
are made available for immediate consumption. This credited district may
be different from the district through which the goods entered the country.

Trade with Canada is important, however, only to the
border state of Washington. The waterborne trade of
Oregon with Canada consists of less than one percent of
Oregon’s total foreign trade. Washington’s trade with
Canada presents certain difficulties for this study, how-




M e t h o d s o f T r a n s p o r t a t i o n , 1 9 4 7 -5 1

13

greater than that of Asia or Western Europe and was
exceeded only by Latin America. If imports from Canada
by land and air carriers are included, which are roughly
estimated at $95 million, Canada’s first position in Wash­
ington’s imports becomes even more obvious.
On the export side Canada does not play such an im­
portant role in Washington’s trade. Waterborne exports
to Canada in 1950 were valued at slightly less than $9
million, less than one-third of the value of waterborne
imports. Canada’s share of the total waterborne exports
of the Pacific Northwest was only 6 percent. However,
if exports of roughly $45 million by carriers other than
water are added, Canada’s share of the total exports of
Washington becomes the largest of any country or trade
area; and, for the Pacific Northwest as a whole, Canada’s
share is exceeded only by Asia.

ment are carried forward. Australia and New Zealand
and the islands of the Pacific are all within the Pacific
Basin and thus are a part of the natural trading area of
the Pacific Northwest. The present closer economic and
political ties between Australia, New Zealand, and the
United States indicate a future growth of trade. Similarly,
the greater interest of the United States in the islands of
the Pacific, not only from a military point of view but
also from the standpoint of their economic development,
should mean increased trade, although here the possibili­
ties are limited by a sparse population which is widely
scattered over the Central and South Pacific.
Intransit trade

There is one additional type of waterborne foreign
trade which, although relatively unimportant in the com­
merce of the Pacific Northwest, forms an integral part of
the foreign trade of most nations — intransit trade. In­
transit trade covers merchandise which comes into the
United States from a foreign country and is shipped to
other foreign countries without being entered as an im­
port.

Prospects for a continuing growth of trade with Can­
ada appear to be excellent. The development of this trade
had been delayed previously by the depression of the
1930’s and the system of imperial preference which fol­
lowed. Also, during the early years of the postwar period
Canada's balance of payments difficulties tended to re­
tard the development of trade. Improvement in Canada’s
exchange position by 1950, however, permitted the re­
laxation of restrictions against dollar imports. The con­
tinued close political and economic ties between the
United States and Canada and the fact that Canada is
now America’s most important trading partner strength­
en the belief that trade wTith Canada will continue strong
in the future. Trade with Canada through the Washing­
ton customs district, one of the major points for inter­
change of goods between Canada and the United States,
should follow7 a similar course of development. Recent
discoveries of petroleum and natural gas in western
Canada, for which there is a ready market in the North­
west, should add to import value. One final factor which
indicates a further growth of trade with Canada is the
continuing high level of United States private investment
in Canadian industry. From 1945 through 1951 United
States private investment in Canada increased by over
$2.2 billion to a total of $7.2 billion.

The intransit trade of the Pacific Northwest averaged
109 million pounds and less than $6 million from 1946
through 1951. The peak year was 1948 when 555 million
pounds valued at slightly under $8 million were handled
by the Northwest. The low year in terms of value wras
1946 with less than $3 million, while 1949 wras the low
year in terms of weight with 36 million pounds.
Oregon handles somewhat less than one-fifth of the
total intransit trade of the Pacific Northwest; the remain­
ing four-fifths moves through the ports of the Washing­
ton customs district, primarily through Seattle.
Washington’s intransit trade has been bolstered by the
establishment of Foreign Trade Zone Number 6 at
Seattle, which opened on September 1, 1949. A foreign
trade zone is, in effect, a free trade area set up within a
port to facilitate the transshipment of merchandise from
one foreign country to another or its eventual entry as an
import into our country without the necessity of entering
the goods in bonded warehouses where considerable time
and expense would be involved. Foreign trade is further
facilitated by permitting certain types of light manufac­
turing, processing, packaging, and exhibiting to be car­
ried on within the zone. There are at present six foreign
trade zones in the United States— New York, New Or­
leans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Antonio, and
Seattle.

Waterborne foreign trade with all other areas

The Pacific Northwest’s foreign trade with the coun­
tries and trade areas discussed thus far accounts for prac­
tically all of the total. Trade with the remaining major
trade areas — Australia and Oceania, and Africa — has
increased but still amounts to a minor part of the total.
In value terms trade with these areas is over four times
as large as prewar and their share of the Pacific North­
west’s total trade has more than doubled. Nevertheless,
in 1950 this share was less than 5 percent and amounted
to less than $11 million.

During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1951, the Seattle
zone handled some 267 different types of commodities
from 32 countries amounting to 14,139 long tons of mer­
chandise valued at $6,349,742.1
While the Seattle foreign trade zone, as well as those at
other ports, should contribute to an increase in foreign
trade, there has been one serious drawback. Each of the

In spite of the present relative unimportance of these
trading areas to the Northwest, possibilities for expan­
sion appear to be good. Trade with Africa can be expected
to increase as current programs of economic develop­




1 Foreign-Trade Zone Board, R e p o r t t o C o n g r e s s f o r
J u n e 3 0 , 1 9 5 1 , W ashington, D . C., March 17, 1952.

14

th e

F is c a l

Year

E n d in g

except New York operated in the red. Upon the recom­
mendation of the Secretary of Commerce, the ForeignTrade Zone Board is, at time of writing, considering this
burden of expense, and it is generally believed that some
relief may be given in the near future.

foreign trade zones must pay the salaries of the customs
inspectors assigned to its zone. This large item of expense
— more than one-third of total expenses— makes it diffi­
cult for the zones to operate on a profitable basis. During
the most recent fiscal year, all of the foreign trade zones

DOMESTIC TRADE1
o m e s tic

waterborne trade of the Pacific Northwest

T o t a l D o m e s t ic T r ad e of t h e P a c if ic N o r t h w e s t

Dmay be divided into three types: intercoastal, which
consists of trade carried by water between the Pacific

(in thousands of short tons)

Coast and the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts; coastwise, which
includes shipments between ports on the Pacific Coast;
and noncontiguous, which is trade with overseas terri­
tories of the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii,
Puerto Rico, the Panama Canal Zone, and various island
possessions.

Coastwise . .
Intercoastal
N on ­
contiguous

517

721

743

Total . . . .

7,228

6,665

3,285

•
3,760

f

1928

----- Inbo und-------1938
1949

1950
*

14,422

7,811

12,199

604

460

389

«

395

439

484

•

15,421

8,710

13,072

13,396

* N o t available.
Sources: United States Maritime Commission, Report N o. 295, W a t e r b o r n e
F o r e i g n a n d D o m e s t i c C o m m e r c e o f t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s ; United States Arm y
Engineers, Annual Report, Part 2, C o m m e r c i a l S t a t i s t i c s and unpublished
machine tabulation sheets.

Unfortunately data on the value of domestic water­
borne trade are not available, and our analysis can be
based on shipping weight only. In terms of shipping
weight domestic waterborne trade is more important to
the Northwest than foreign waterborne trade. In 1950,
for example, domestic trade accounted for approximately
85 percent of the total tonnage of waterborne commerce
of the region.

the movements of inbound shipments compared to out­
bound shipments. The decline in Pacific Northwest do­
mestic trade between the late 1920’s and the outbreak of
W orld War II was confined almost entirely to inbound
shipments. In 1938 total inbound shipments were only
55 percent of the 1928 level. In the postwar period, how­
ever, the trend in inbound shipments has reversed and by
1950 inbound shipments were almost 60 percent above
the 1938 volume. On the other hand, outbound shipments
in the domestic trade have shown an almost opposite
trend. From 1928 to 1938 outbound shipments declined
less than 7 percent. During the postwar period, however,
outbound shipments declined sharply and in 1950 were
less than 60 percent of 1938. This sharply divergent trend

The Pacific Coast in general has suffered from a long
run decline in domestic waterborne trade. Alternative
forms of transportation that are faster and provide more
frequent service have displaced water transportation in
many cases. This decline, however, has not applied equal­
ly to all types of domestic commerce. While both inter­
coastal and coastwise trade have fallen off, the decline has
been much more serious in the intercoastal service. Non­
contiguous trade, on the other hand, has shown an up­
ward trend. In addition, those ports which handle general
cargo shipments predominantly have suffered more from
the decline than have those ports where bulk shipments
are important.

D O M E S T IC W A T E R B O R N E C O M M E R C E O F T H E
P A C I F I C N O R T H W E S T ,1 1938-50

The ports of the Pacific Northwest have not been im­
mune from the effects of this decline although they have
suffered less, possibly, than some of the California ports.
Nevertheless, the total domestic waterborne trade of the
Northwest has decreased from the peak of 22.6 million
short tons in 1928 to 17.2 million short tons in 1950.
While there was some recovery in the late 1930’s from the
low levels of the depression years, the peaks of earlier
years were not approached.
Of primary concern in this study are the changes in
domestic waterborne trade which have taken place since
1938 and 1939. Brief reference, however, should be made
to earlier years because of rather significant changes in
1 Total domestic waterborne trade statistics for the postwar years through
1950 are from reports of the United States Corps of Arm y Engineers, while
prewar figures were obtained from reports of the United States Maritime
Commission. N o breakdown of total domestic waterborne trade by type—
coastwise, intercoastal, and noncontiguous— however, is available for the
postwar years, with the exception of .1949 when a special report was tabu­
lated by the Arm y Engineers. Alaskan trade figures for 1949 and 1950 are
also furnished by the Arm y Engineers. Volum e figures (in board feet) for
lumber shipments are from the reports of the Pacific Lum ber Inspection
Bureau.




— Outbound----- --------- "\
1928
1938
1949
1950
#
4,276
3,863
954
*
2,435 2,081
1,588

15

proved methods of handling and packaging water ship­
ments. There must be further progress, however, if do­
mestic waterborne trade is to stage a real revival.

between inbound and outbound shipments in the two
periods can be explained largely in terms of two com­
modities. Outbound shipments in 1938 were only slightly
below the 1928 level largely because lumber shipments
had been maintained. In the postwar period, on the other
hand, it was a decline in lumber shipments which ac­
counted for most of the decline in outbound shipments,
while increased petroleum shipments from California
were primarily responsible for the growth in inbound
tonnage.

Coastwise waterborne trade

In 1949 coastwise waterborne trade of the Pacific
Northwest was the most important segment of domestic
waterborne trade, accounting for 72 percent of the total.
The 1949 level represents a 13 percent increase over 1938.
This increase, however, obscures certain basic changes
which have had an adverse effect on coastwise trade.

The decline in domestic waterborne trade is common­
ly attributed to a number of factors, most of which reflect
poorer service and insufficient savings to justify the in­
conveniences. A recent poll of shippers and receivers of
intercoastal cargo indicated the following reasons for not
using intercoastal water service (listed in order of fre­
quency) : (1 ) length of transit time; (2 ) insufficient sav­
ings in freight charges to justify its use; (3 ) criticism of
burdensome incidental charges such as wharfage and in­
surance added to the basic freight rates; (4 ) too infre­
quent service; ( 5 ) frequent loss or damage to shipments;
and (6 ) unstable labor conditions.1 This list reflects vir­
tually all the major arguments which have been used by
shippers of goods against the use of water transportation
in the coastwise as well as the intercoastal service. The
ship operators, too, are well aware of their competitive
disadvantages. There have been efforts to overcome these
disadvantages, and some progress has been made toward
better waterfront labor-management relations and im-

The postwar increase in coastwise tonnage has been
entirely the result of a large increase in inbound ship­
ments of bulk petroleum products, which has offset a seri­
ous decline in outbound coastwise trade. Inbound coast­
wise shipments in 1949 were 56 percent over the 1938
volume. Of the total tonnage received in 1949, nonmetallic minerals accounted for over 99 percent.
Outbound shipments, in contrast, have declined more
than 75 percent since prewar years. Lumber, the most
important commodity in outbound coastwise trade, was
almost entirely responsible for this decrease. Lumber
shipments from the Pacific Northwest in the coastwise
trade decreased 66 percent between 1938 and 1949. While
there was some improvement in 1950 and 1951, they were
still less than half the 1938 level.
Competition from rail and truck carriers has been most
severe in the outbound coastwise trade, particularly in
general cargo but also in lumber shipments. There is a
smaller freight cost differential between land and water

1 Pacific Coast Association of Port Authorities, Committee on Coastwise and
Intercoastal Business, “ Report of Shipper Sub-Com m ittee.”

D o m e s t ic

C o m m e r c e of t h e

P a c if ic

N o r t h w e s t , 1949

(in short tons)

—Shipments—

.----------------------------------- Receipts —

Oregon D istrict:
Animals and products, edible. . .
Animals and products, inedible.

Machinery and vehicles
Miscellaneous

-X
-Intercoastal—
Total
Atlantic
G ulf

Coastwise

N oncontiguous
—

Total
domestic

--IntercoastalAtlantic
G u lf
Total

N on Coast" conwise: tiguous

Total
domestic

366
472
—
27
1,431
—
3,892

14,970
1,079
36,152
1,801
6,517
41,718
6,236,988
54,807
7,066
5,971
46,819

— 30,138
—
99
29,438 2,746
3,965
327
1,881
43
795,969 55,486
—
54
1,270
95
601
173
—
104
2,917
51

—
30,138
99
16
32,184
784
4,292
1,255
1,924
22
851,455 643,961
54 55,974
1,365
3,961
774
31
104
2,236
2,968
63

27,547

6,453,888

866,436 58,921

925,357 708,303 143,660 1,777,320

217
787
10,336
1,289
7,224
17,333
96,746
81,576
4,843
13,213
14,301

160 145,890
35
6,794
7,046 29,412
139
247
204
219
28,717 94,472
5,857,661 123,461
3,099
19,783
8,748
16,712
1,759
100
5,389
19,501

146,267
7,616
46,794
1,675
7,647
140,522
6,077,868
104,458
30,303
15,072
39,191

14,275
208
16,466
54
595
605,675
606
8,060
1,887
3,974
2,554

36
17
1,606
121
15
3,811
40
2,529
143

14,311
175 22,715
225
82
70
18,072
328 104,376
175
13
1,348
187
610
2,810
609,486 167,272 113,960
646 38,500 110,643
10,589
2,830
58,818
2,030
3,438 44,980
3,974 31,987
10,233
2,709
1,025 129,061

128,706 119,159 247,865

5,913,065 456,483

6,617,413

654,354

8,473

109
389
4,997
1,465
5,745
6,027
7,981
47,093
2,446
5,704
9,007

10
626
4,239
50
209
1,078
35,596
7,232

119
1,015
9,236
1,515
5,954
7,105
43,577
54,325
2,446
5,821
9,775

14,851
64
5,557
286
197
34,141
6,193,411
455
3,189
150
33,152

90,963

49,925 140,888

6,285,453

182
386
5,451
1,151
7,146
9,297
8,497
64,707
4,835
13,074
13,980

35
401
4,885
138
78
8,036
88,249
16,869
8
139
321

—

117
768

—

21,359
—

1,372
31,510
26
141
21,942
54,910
25
5,572
1,982
36
65,339 1,560,755
1,355
57,383
34,037
39,363
4,729
5,534
5,538
7,878
9,261
12,292

W ashington District :
Animals and products, edible. . . .
Animals and products, inedible. .
Vegetable food p ro d u c ts.................
Vegetable products, inedible
Textile fibers and manufactures.

Total Oregon and W ashington
Districts ...................................................

219,669 169,084 388,753 12,198,518 484,030 13,460,054

Source : United States Arm y Engineers, Division Engineer, South Pacific Division.




16

—

155

37,201
377
122,776
1,536
3,607
890,718
149,789
72,237
50,448
46,194
132,795

662,827 245,837 599,014 1,507,678

1,520,790 67,394 1,588,184 954,140 742,674 3,284,998

transport on the coastwise run than in intercoastal trade
because of the shorter distances involved. In the case of
lumber this has been accentuated by the shifting of pro­
duction south from Washington into Oregon which has
had the effect of shortening the distance to the large Cali­
fornia market. An important part of the total cost of water
shipments consists of relatively high handling charges
which must be incurred in loading and unloading regard­
less of the distance the cargo will travel. Thus the shorter
the haul the more these charges work to the disadvantage
of water carriers. This fact, plus the large demand for
lumber in California for housing construction, high lum­
ber prices, and short supplies during part of the postwar
period, has resulted in an increasing resort to rail and
truck carriers which offer faster and more frequent deliv­
eries at only slightly higher cost. In the intercoastal trade
the longer distances involved have offset some of the dis­
advantages of water shipments of lumber, and the lower
basic cost of transportation has been a more effective com­
petitive advantage.
Intercoastal waterborne trade

Among the components of total domestic trade, inter­
coastal waterborne trade has declined the most since pre­
war years. Outbound intercoastal shipments declined 24
percent between 1938 and 1949, and inbound shipments
were down 15 percent.
W ood and paper products are the dominant commodity
group in the outbound intercoastal trade, making up 92
percent of the total in 1949. Lumber shipments, which
were down considerably in the coastwise trade, actually

increased in the intercoastal trade from 793 million board
feet in 1938 to 1,021 million board feet in 1949 though
they declined to about the prewar level in 1951. The only
other commodity groups of importance were edible ani­
mal products and vegetable food products which together
amounted to only 6 percent of the total.
Inbound intercoastal shipments are relatively small,
amounting to less than one-fourth the volume of outbound
shipments in 1949. Most important among the commodi­
ties received were nonmetallic minerals (mainly petro­
leum products) and metals and manufactures (mostly
steel). These two commodity groups, which were of about
equal importance, accounted for over 70 percent of total
receipts.
Noncontiguous trade

The trade of the Pacific Northwest with noncontiguous
United States territories and possessions has, along with
coastwise trade, shown a gain in tonnage over prewar
years. This gain included increases of 10 percent in in­
bound shipments and 3 percent in outbound shipments.
Most of the increase was accounted for by the 68 percent
growth in the noncontiguous trade of the ports of the
Oregon customs district, as the volume of trade of the
Washington district remained at about the 1938 level.
Even though the ports of the Oregon customs district
were responsible for the postwar increase in noncontigu­
ous trade, this trade is still much more important to the
Washington district. The noncontiguous trade of the
Washington customs district amounted to 14 percent of

W a t e r b o r n e L u m b e r S h i p m e n t s f r o m W a s h i n g t o n an d O r e g o n , 1 9 3 7 -3 9 a n d 1 9 4 9 -5 1
(in millions of board feet)
4------------------------------------------Washington-----------------------------------------

1937

1938

1939

1949

1950

1951

N

,

1937

1938

Oregon----- <-------------------------------------------\
1939
1949
1950
1951

T o t a l .........................................

1,787.7

1,176.1

1,463.6

767.5

766.0

764.2

931.7

1,006.8

1,183.3

965.8

1,149.2

1,167.9

Domestic

................................

1,425.3

1,023.0

1,200.2

651.5

683.1

544.5

684.2

875.3

1,044.5

759.9

962.9

750.3

Alaska ................................
Atlantic Coast ...............
California ...........................
Hawaii ................................
Panama Canal Z o n e . . .
P h ilip p in es........................
Puerto Rico ....................
O t h e r ....................................

17.1
740.6
568.5
64.5
11.3
12.7
10.6
..

12.4
518.1
429.3
46.5
6.8
3.1
7.0
..

15.3
680.0
432.5
46.9
14.4
2.4
8.7
..

9.9
575.3
50.9
8.2
0.8
..
5.8
0.6

8.0
553.3
85.6
24.4
0.7
..
11.0
..

15.9
448.2
55.9
12.3
1.0
..
9.7
1.5

*
233.7
417.2
23.1
1.5
1.1
7.3
0.3

0.9
275.1
562.4
26.5
2.6
0.5
7.2
..

0.1
397.8
597.8
26.0
12.5
0.6
9.3
..

0.7
446.1
287.1
18.3
2.3

0.6
501.2
415.4
34.9
4.5

3.8
367.8
337.0
31.9
2.2

5.5
..

6.3
..

3.8
3.7

362.4

153.1

263.4

115.9

82.9

219.6

247.5

131.5

138.8

2 0 5 .8 1

186.3

417.6

13.7
5.5
13.8
99.9

8.5
*
10.5
28.9

13.0
4.6
7.8
58.4

13.7
8.6
1.5
1.5

3.3
11.2
0.4
3.0

12.0
20.7
1.8
1.9

12.4
7.7
3.5
57.6

4.5
..
4.2
27.7

6.9
2.3
6.1
25.3

46.5
38.4
6.3
5.6

27.8
24.2
2.2
6.7

61.7
19.6
80.8
4.0

..
128.0
28.7
0.8
41.7
30.3

..
21.7
41.1
1.2
19.8
21.4

..
42.3
55.0
1.5
58.7
22.1

8.6
14.8
2.8
11.1
43.0
10.3

22.3
3.4
5.1
16.4
9.4
8.4

4.2
6.4
5.0
4.8
144.1
18.7

..
50.3
81.4
0.4
10.2
24.0

..
9.1
47.6
0.6
12.4
25.4

..
6.0
34.1
..
34.7
23.4

7.5
16.0
24.5
9.9
29.4
21.7

19.4
3.6
24.8
13.4
44.2
20.0

3.2
10.5
42.3
3.1
151.9
40.5

13

18

15

11

29

27

13

12

21

16

36

E xport

....................................

Africa ..................................
Australia ...........................
Belgium .............................
China ..................................
Egypt, Palestine
and A r a b i a ....................
Japan2 ................................
South A m e r ic a ...............
South Sea Islands..........
U nited K ingdom ..........
Other ..................................
Exports as % of t o t a l . . . .

20

*Less than 50,000 board feet.
1 Includes 1.4 million board feet from California.
2 Includes Korea.
N o t e : Figures may not add to totals because of rounding.
Source: Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau, W a t e r b o r n e S h i p m e n t s o f L u m b e r . These figures are furnished to the Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau by pro­
ducers on a voluntary basis and are not exact. How ever, check comparisons by the Bureau indicate that thefigures represent approximately 90 percent
of the domestic shipments and 95 percent of the export shipments.




17

its total domestic waterborne trade while that of the Ore­
gon district amounted to less than 3 percent of its total.
The noncontiguous trade of the Pacific Northwest is
carried on primarily with the territories of Alaska and
Hawaii. The Alaskan trade is of dominant importance to
Washington, particularly the port of Seattle. In the case
of the Oregon ports, trade with Hawaii accounts for the
major part of their noncontiguous trade while the Alas­
kan trade is of minor importance.
Trade with Alaska

Trade between Pacific Northwest ports and Alaska
has always accounted for the major portion of the trade
between the United States and Alaska. Until recently,
however, there was very little direct trade with Alaska
from Pacific Coast ports other than the Washington ports,
with the exception of petroleum shipments from Cali­
fornia. In 1949 and 1950 Washington handled approxi­
mately half of all United States outbound shipments to
Alaska. General cargoes destined for Alaska from other
parts of the United States have customarily been shipped
to Seattle by regular coastwise, intercoastal, or land car­
riers where they were transferred to vessels plying the
Alaskan trade. Thus, Seattle became the terminus for the
Alaskan trade. Washington, in addition, handles virtually
all of the inbound waterborne traffic from Alaska. In
both 1949 and 1950 nearly 99 percent of the tonnage of
Alaska’s exports to the United States entered through
the ports of Washington, over 80 percent of this total
crossing the docks of Seattle.
Oregon’s share of the Alaskan trade is not significant,
amounting to less than 3 percent in 1949 and 1950. Cali­
fornia’s ports, however, supplied over 40 percent of
Alaska’s domestic imports in both years.
Shipments from the Pacific Northwest to Alaska con­
sist largely of foodstuffs, consumer goods, and construc­
tion materials. A substantial increase in the tonnage of
these shipments has taken place in the postwar period.
For example, shipments from the port of Seattle to
Alaska increased from 330,000 short tons in 1936 to
438.000 tons in 1949 and 504,000 tons in 1950. There
have also been substantial military shipments which do
not appear in the official statistics.
Shipments from Alaska to the Northwest, however,
have decreased from the prewar level. In 1936 shipments
from Alaska landed at the port of Seattle amounted to
338.000 tons. By 1949 this total was 330,000 tons but it
declined substantially in 1950 to 164,000 tons. This rela­
tively large decrease in 1950 was caused primarily by a
reduction in shipments of canned salmon as a result of
the very small Alaskan pack. Some improvement, how­
ever, was shown in 1951 because of an increase in the
canned salmon pack in Alaska.
Canned salmon has been by far the most important
commodity shipped from Alaska to the Northwest, com­
prising on the average more than 50 percent by value of
total shipments. In spite of continued light runs of salmon




P a c if ic C oast T rade w it h A l a s k a , 1949-50
(in short tons)
,----------------- 1949-----------------* ,--------------1950-------------- ,

Army Engineers District

To
Alaska

From
Alaska

To
Alaska

From
Alaska
2,419

Los Angeles ........................

121,000

41

104,516

San F r a n c is c o ......................

474,289

785

343,215

173

P o r t la n d ..................................

46,332

78

22,411

262
193,970

Seattle

....................................

492,343

414,226

558,351

...........................

18,116

—

5,410

T o t a l ....................................

1,152,080

415,130

Unclassified

Source: Division Engineer,
A rm y.

South Pacific Division,

1,033,903

—*
196,824

Department of the

in recent years, the salmon industry is still the most im­
portant industry in Alaska.
Other important commodities among Alaskan ship­
ments to the Northwest have been fur skins, gold and
silver-bearing ores, and copper ore, until 1938 when de­
veloped copper resources in Alaska were exhausted.
The recent increases in outbound shipments to Alaska
reflect the rapid development of the territory. This devel­
opment in large part has been the result of the strategic
and military value of Alaska. The 1950 census showed
an Alaska population of 128,643, an increase of 77 percent
over 1940. As a result of the increasing population and
the construction of military facilities, a large volume of
lumber and other construction materials has been shipped
out of Seattle and other Pacific Northwest ports to
Alaska. While Department of Defense expenditures in
Alaska will probably continue to be of considerable im­
portance, long run development of the territory and,
therefore, of trade with the Pacific Northwest must rest
on basic economic growth.
Commercial fishing is still the most important activity
in Alaska, providing employment for about 30,000 per­
sons and indirectly for many others. This employment is
seasonal, however, and is limited, for the most part, to
the summer months. Furthermore, income from the fish­
ing industry goes mainly to residents in continental
United States who go to Alaska for only part of the year.
Alaska has attempted to foster the canning industry at
home rather than shipping a part of its catch to the Pa­
cific Northwest for canning or other processing. In order
to encourage the development of additional canning fa­
cilities in Alaska, the territorial government has imposed
a tax on the income of those fisheries which derive their
product from Alaskan waters for canning or processing
elsewhere.
Another major resource of Alaska is its forests. Most
of Alaska’s immense resources of timber is not suitable
for construction lumber, but it provides excellent material
for the production of pulp. Before the war a considerable
volume of logs was shipped from Alaskan forests to
Pacific Northwest mills. Since the war, however, this
movement has virtually stopped, and Alaska prefers to
develop her forest resources within the territory. As a
result of this policy, a contract was signed in July 1951
between the United States Forest Service and a new
Alaskan firm backed by a Northwest paper and pulp man-

18

ufacturer and a major East Coast rayon manufacturer,
providing for the sale of 1.5 million cubic feet of timber
in the Tongass forest for the manufacture of pulp. When
this mill goes into operation it will have a capacity of over
300 tons of pulp per day which should add materially to
the trade between Alaska and the Northwest. Construc­
tion has commenced and completion is scheduled for 1954.
Alaska’s remaining known resources are primarily
mineral in nature and are largely undeveloped or, as in
the case of petroleum, being held as strategic reserves.
Plans are underway, however, for at least one large metal
reduction plant to be constructed in Alaska.
On the other hand the market for Pacific Northwest
vegetables in Alaska may be lost in the future or at least
greatly reduced. There is, for example, a market for two
or three thousand pounds of vegetables per week in the
city of Nome alone. Most of this produce is shipped from
Seattle at a cost of 22 cents per pound. Present plans call
for the encouragement of vegetable farming in Alaska
which will be able to supply this market at shipping costs
of four to nine cents per pound.
Over the years Alaska’s major problem has been one of
transportation. Alaska is almost wholly dependent on the
continental United States for most of her manufactured
goods, foodstuffs, and raw materials, and, in turn, must
sell most of her products in American markets. In
addition, by a provision of the Merchant Marine Act of
1920, foreign vessels are prohibited from participating in
the trade between Alaska and the continental United
States, thus making Alaska completely dependent upon
the American merchant marine. As a result, Alaska has
been extremely vulnerable to maritime strikes on the
Pacific Coast. Although there has been considerable im­
provement during the postwar period in labor-management relations in the maritime industry, when these
strikes do occur they work particular hardship on resi­
dents of Alaska. In addition to protests against this vul­
nerability because of possible work stoppages, residents
of Alaska have also complained that the monopoly of
their waterborne trade by American carriers has resulted
in discriminatory freight rates and inadequate shipping
services and facilities.
In spite of these problems, however, the immediate
prospects for an expansion of trade between the Pacific
Northwest and Alaska are favorable. Defense needs
initiated during the war and continued during the post­
war period should provide an important market for some

time as wrell as a basis for the support of further increases
in Alaska’s population. The increasing interest in the
development of Alaska’s resources should also contribute
to a greater volume of trade.
Trade with Hawaii

Pacific Northwest trade with Hawaii differs from that
with Alaska in that it has been less extensive and more
specialized. Wheat products and lumber constitute the
major shipments to Hawaii, while pineapple, sugar, and
miscellaneous commodities are shipped from Hawaii to
the Northwest.
In the postwar period over 40 percent of the noncon­
tiguous trade of the Oregon customs district has been
with Hawaii. The Washington customs district, on the
other hand, is dependent upon Hawaii for less than 15
percent of its noncontiguous trade, although the total
volume handled is larger than that of the Oregon district.
In 1949 Washington’s total trade with Hawaii amounted
to more than 140,000 short tons while that of Oregon
was approximately 70,000 short tons. The trend, how­
ever, has favored the ports of the Oregon district. For
example, while the tonnage of the trade of the port of
Seattle with Hawaii is only slightly above the prewar
level, that of the port of Portland has more than doubled.
The Pacific Northwest’s trade with Hawaii is charac­
terized by a large excess of shipments over receipts, the
tonnage of shipments amounting to over three times that
of receipts in recent years. This outbound balance reflects
in large part the importance of lumber shipments in this
trade. In 1950 lumber shipments from the Pacific North­
west to Hawaii amounted to over 59 million board feet.
Although this figure is below the prewar level the de­
crease was due to a decrease in shipments from Washing­
ton ; those of Oregon have increased.
The future of Pacific Northwest trade with Hawaii
would appear to be good. The value of Hawaii’s trade
with the United States has shown a large increase since
the war. Total United States trade with Hawaii increased
from a little over $200 million in 1938 to $569 million in
1947, an increase of 184 percent. The Pacific Northwest’s
participation in this increase, however, has been limited
by the lack of an extensive transcontinental transship­
ment trade through its ports and by the relatively small
local market for the specialized products of Hawaii. The
market for Pacific Northwest lumber and foodstuffs, on
the other hand, should continue strong as the economy of
the islands continues to develop.

SOME SPECIAL FACTORS AFFECTING PACIFIC NORTHWEST TRADE
far this study has been concerned primarily with
general problems which have had an effect on the
waterborne trade of the Pacific Northwest. They are gen­
eral in the sense that they reflect either factors that are
more or less inherent in the economies of the Pacific
Northwest states or trends in the flow of trade which have

developed on the national or international scene. They
have for the most part been long run problems, and many
cannot be solved directly by action of Pacific Northwest
ports acting individually. There are, however, additional
problems of lesser magnitude which are more amenable
to local action. Relatively speaking these problems are

hus

T




19

of a short run nature. They include such things as labormanagement relations, port promotion, rate structures,
and port administration.
Labor-management relations

The maintenance of peaceful labor-management rela­
tions in the ports of the Pacific Northwest has posed
problems almost as perplexing as those confronting Cali­
fornia’s ports. The problems involved are essentially the
same, although there are some additional factors which
may be mentioned in the case of the Pacific Northwest.
The first successful union organization among un­
licensed seamen on the Pacific Coast was started in the
coastwise lumber trade in the 1880’s, while licensed sea­
men and longshoremen organized a decade later. By 1919
and 1921, however, following several unsuccessful strikes,
concerted action by the employer groups resulted in a
weakening of union strength. Collective bargaining was
not resumed between employers and port labor until
1933. Shortly thereafter strikes in 1934 and 1936-37 af­
fected all Pacific Coast ports. W ork stoppages in 1946
and 1948 again crippled shipping in all Pacific Coast ports
except Tacoma. Strikes have in most cases occurred at
the same time on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts,
but the work stoppages on the Pacific Coast have been
more severe and prolonged in most instances and thus
have occasioned greater concern on the part of interested
groups.
In general, collective bargaining on the Pacific Coast
has been on a coastwide basis. Agreements are ordinarily
negotiated between the union and the organized employer
groups. A single contract covers the entire coast, although
disputes are usually handled on the port level. The pat­
tern of collective coastwide bargaining has been the result
of a long series of negotiations between employers and
labor and disputes among the rival labor unions. There
remain, however, some areas of friction. For example,
the independent International Longshoremen’s and
Warehousemen’s Union now controls the collective bar­
gaining process for all longshoremen along the Pacific
Coast, with the exception of Tacoma where the American
Federation of Labor’s International Longshoremen’s As­
sociation is in control. The International Longshoremen’s
Association, with headquarters and most of its strength
on the East Coast, formerly was the dominant union on
the Pacific Coast and has made attempts to regain its
former position. Another source of friction, especially in
Washington, has been the effort of the International
Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union to extend
its operations beyond purely dock work. Opposed to this
expansion has been a non-maritime union, the American
Federation of Labor’s Teamsters’ Union, which in retali­
ation has attempted unsuccessfully to extend its control
over dock work.

ation for all employers was challenged by a major steam­
ship company which refused to adhere to an industry­
wide agreement and withdrew from the association.
The relative harmony along the waterfronts of the Pa­
cific Coast in 1949 and 1950, however, indicates that peace
is attainable, but its continuance will depend on the atti­
tudes of labor and management. Labor-management co­
operation since the war has been fairly well maintained;
the difficulties have rather been the result of intra-group
strife both on the labor and management sides. However,
such difficulties must be resolved and labor peace main­
tained if the waterborne trade of the Pacific Coast is to
be maintained and a healthy growth realized.
Port promotion in the Pacific Northwest

A comprehensive and aggressive port promotion pro­
gram in and of itself will not be effective in attracting
shippers to use the facilities of any port. But a well-inte­
grated port promotion program in conjunction with mod­
ern facilities, a favorable rate structure, and peaceful
labor-management relations can be of great benefit.
Port promotion among the ports of the Pacific North­
west has lagged behind ports in other parts of the country,
particularly those of the Gulf Coast. In recent years, how­
ever, such programs have been undertaken in the Pacific
Northwest as well as in California. Port promotion in the
Northwest, however, has not been on a large scale. Of the
numerous ports in the area, only three can undertake an
extensive program of this type — Seattle, Tacoma, and
Portland, all general cargo ports. The other ports deal
mainly in specialized commodities, and the restricted na­
ture of their trade precludes any effective action.
Seattle seems to have succeeded in developing the most
intensive and widespread campaign to attract foreign and
domestic shippers, with emphasis placed on trade with the
Far East. In line with this, a Japanese Trade Fair was
held in June 1951 as a part of a long-range international
promotional program. Plans for additional facilities for
the use of traders, consuls, and shippers are also in the
offing.
Since there is little conflict of interest between Cali­
fornia and Pacific Northwest ports because of differences
in economic resources, there is much to be gained by a
program for coastwide promotion and cooperation in a
general program which would prove beneficial to all Pa­
cific Coast ports.
The rate structure in the Pacific Northwest

With slight variations, the rate structure applicable to
California ports is the same as that for the ports of the
Pacific Northwest. The rail rates in force for commodi­
ties moving in international trade fall into several groups:
rates applying on through bills of lading (for exports),
domestic class rates, and commodity rates. These classi­
fications govern the rates applied to shipments to and
from Pacific Northwest ports. Rail rates are divided into
“ local” and “ transcontinental” rates. Exports from points

Nor have the management groups been without inter­
nal difficulties. Recently the coastwide bargaining pattern
set on the Pacific Coast by the Pacific Maritime Associ­




20

ever, certain commodities which were not given the full
increase. Among these commodities are several which are
of particular importance in the domestic trade of the Pa­
cific Northwest: fresh fruits and vegetables, canned and
preserved food products, lumber, and grain and grain
products. All of these commodities except grain were
limited to rate increases of 12 cents per hundred pounds ;
the rate on grain went up 12 percent. It has been claimed
that the nature of this ruling will have a particularly ad­
verse effect on the intercoastal carriers operating to and
from the Pacific Northwest. Two of the commodities
mentioned, lumber and canned goods, are the most im­
portant commodities in eastbound intercoastal trade, and
canned goods are important in the westbound traffic. Be­
cause of the necessity of holding water rates below rail
rates, intercoastal carriers will be unable to benefit sig­
nificantly from this increase. As might be expected, this
recent rate decision has brought charges by domestic
water carriers that in the selection of commodities select­
ed for “ hold downs” there has been direct discrimination
against intercoastal carriers, particularly those serving
the Pacific Northwest.

east of the Rockies may take advantage of the lower rates
to Pacific Coast ports of lading. “ Local” traffic, on the
other hand, includes all other shipments and are subject
to the higher domestic rates. The application of these
higher domestic rates to shipments of products produced
in the West and shipped to seaboard for export has long
been a source of bitter complaint.
The ocean rate, the other major component of the rate
structure, is determined by conferences composed of
steamship operators, generally on the basis of differen­
tials in relation to the distances involved from various
ports of the United States.1
Another element in the rate structure is handling and
other terminal costs. Handling costs form an important
part of shipping costs and have been criticized as one of
the factors which place the Pacific Coast at a disadvantage
in soliciting traffic. Until May 1950 the Pacific Northwest
had suffered some disadvantage in relation to California
ports in the matter of handling costs, but after that time
equalization of handling charges among Pacific Coast
ports on shipments to the Orient removed a major part
of this inequality. Some further progress in rationalizing
the rate structure was made in 1950 when the steamship
companies and rail carriers agreed to absorb handling
charges on transcontinental import and export traffic, ex­
cepting shipments from Hawaii and cargoes requiring
off-shore loading. Under this arrangement all major ex­
pense items are combined in a single bill to the shipper.
This move has alleviated the inconveniences involved in
the charges previously in effect by reducing the com­
plexity of cost determination to the individual shipper.

Port administration

Many of the problems with which ports must contend
are directly related to the various types of port adminis­
tration. Such problems as modernization of facilities and
the types of services offered at various ports reflect the
form of port administration employed and the powers
assigned to the responsible authorities. Of particular im­
portance, not only in the Pacific Northwest but in most
port areas of the nation, has been the problem of inade­
quate port facilities. Because of the increase over prewar
years in the average size of vessels, many berthing facili­
ties have become outmoded. Other changes in the types
of vessels have also resulted in the need for improved
cargo handling facilities, in particular those capable of
handling bulk cargoes. As a result those ports of the
nation which have gone ahead with modernization pro­
grams have gained traffic at the expense of less progres­
sive ports.

In the case of rates applicable to the coastwise and
intercoastal trades, the basic problems are related to the
competitive structure of rates permitted under Interstate
Commerce Commission rulings which affect both rail and
domestic water carriers. It is commonly claimed by water
carriers that in the case of coastwise shipping on the Pa­
cific Coast the competitive rail rates permitted by the ICC
are noncompensatory on certain important commodities
and thus provide unfair competition for water carriers.
In the case of intercoastal shipments it is similarly con­
tended that the competitive rail rates are so low that it
has not been possible for water carriers to raise rates suffi­
ciently to cover greatly increased costs of labor, fuel, sup­
plies, and vessel replacement. Water carriers have had
to hold their rates below the competitive rail levels in
order to make their service, which is much slower, attrac­
tive to shippers.

Port administration among the various Pacific North­
west ports shows much less variety than that shown
among California ports. With the exception of Portland,
almost all the major Pacific Northwest ports are organ­
ized in a similar fashion.
All ports in the Washington customs district are organ­
ized under the terms of the Port District Act of 1911.
Aside from the general powers exercised by the Federal,
state, and municipal governments over shipping and the
harbor, each port administration constitutes a municipal
corporation practically independent of state or municipal
control. The municipal corporation is a port commission
with defined powers over the port district, which may be
either coextensive with a county or may cover less or
more than one county. The members of the commission,
usually three in number, are elected by the voters of the

This subject is very complex and highly controversial
and space does not permit a complete discussion. There
has, however, been one recent development which is di­
rectly related to the problem and of particular interest to
the waterborne trade of the Pacific Northwest. In April
1952 the ICC granted a general 15 percent increase to all
domestic carriers, both rail and water. There are, howJFor a discussion of the determination of ocean freight rates see “ W ater­
borne Trade of California Ports,” Supplement to M o n t h l y R e v i e w , M ay
1951, pages 7-8.




21

county for varying terms— with staggered elections so
that one commissioner is elected every year or every other
year. The commission controls all property belonging to
the corporation and is empowered to levy annual taxes to
cover bonded indebtedness, to issue general and local im­
provement bonds (with limitations), to provide port fa­
cilities, and to determine terminal rates and charges.
In the Oregon customs district all ports except Port­
land are organized along lines similar to those in Wash­
ington. Port districts are established within which port
commissions act as independent municipal corporations.
The commissioners are elected annually by the voters of
the district and exercise powers similar to those outlined
for Washington port commissions.
The Port of Portland, on the other hand, has a some­
what different set-up. The Port of Portland Commission,
a municipal corporation, is composed of nine members
appointed for four-year terms by the Governor and sub­
ject to a two-thirds vote of approval by the state Senate.
The Port of Portland Commission maintains and oper­
ates the major share of waterfront property. Much of
the remainder is owned by the City of Portland which
maintains a city department— the five-man Commission
of Public Docks appointed by the mayor— to supervise
and operate the city properties. The Commission of
Public Docks also is empowered to fix rates for all munic­
ipal terminals and docks.
Some description of the accomplishments of the Ta­
coma port administration will serve as an example of

what can be done by such an authority. In March of this
year work was commenced on the dredging of a new
channel and the construction of a drawbridge at the Port
of Tacoma. This project marks the culmination of years
of effort on the part of the Tacoma Port Commission.
The new 3,500-foot channel, with a 30-foot depth, will
add a mile and a half of waterfront to the port and 100
acres of tidewater plant sites. The project is scheduled
for completion in 1953, and already five new plants have
acquired sites on the new waterway including two chemi­
cal plants, a boat yard, and a concrete plant. This new
project, coinciding with the completion of the City of
Tacoma's $146 million Cowlitz River hydroelectric proj­
ect which will provide additional industrial power, augurs
well for the future development of the port.
The Tacoma Port Commission is a separate municipal
corporation formed in 1918 and follows the pattern of
other port authorities in the Northwest. Other projects
of the commission have been a cold storage plant, the
capacity of which has been doubled recently, and grain
elevators, which now have a capacity of 1.5 million bush­
els following a major addition made in 1951. Over 7.5
million bushels of wheat were loaded at the port's eleva­
tors in 1951 for export to foreign countries. The Tacoma
progress is an excellent example of the manner in which
an aggressive port authority can contribute to port devel­
opment and the growth of waterborne trade. Other Pa­
cific Northwest ports can credit their port administrations
with similar progress although Tacoma is perhaps an out­
standing case.

TRADE PROSPECTS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
ast

World War II. After a sharp drop from 1947 to 1948,
Oregon’s foreign trade began to turn upward slightly.
Washington’s trade, meanwhile, has remained fairly con­
stant at a level slightly below 1947. The region’s exports
and imports through 1950 followed the national trend,
with exports declining from the peaks reached in 1947
and imports gradually increasing. The outbreak of the
Korean conflict in 1950 upset this trend. During 1951, as
a result of the unusual demand conditions in a rearming
world, both exports and imports expanded rapidly in the
nation and the Northwest alike, with exports showing
by far the largest increase. In both Oregon and Washing­
ton the volume of foreign trade in 1951 exceeded the
previous postwar high of 1947 by a considerable margin
and the prewar level by an even greater margin.

trends and recent developments in the pattern and

Pnature of domestic and foreign trade should provide
some insight into the future of waterborne trade in
the Pacific Northwest. The entire Pacific Coast should
play an important role in waterborne commerce because
of its proximity to the Orient and other trans-Pacific
areas and its excellent coastline and harbors. The postwar
changes in the volume and value of United States trade,
moreover, indicate further increases in which the Pacific
Coast states, and specifically the Pacific Northwest,
should be able to share. Certain factors, however, both
domestic and international, will be especially significant
in determining the future of United States waterborne
commerce and the share of the Pacific Northwest in that
total.
Since the war, Oregon’s total domestic trade has in­
creased somewhat, mostly because of larger petroleum
receipts, since the tonnage of shipments from Oregon
ports has dropped. Washington's domestic trade, on the
other hand, has declined from the immediate prewar
period with the major share of the decline taking place
in outbound tonnage.
No definite trend, however, is evident in the total vol­
ume of Pacific Northwest foreign trade since the end of




The future trend of Pacific Northwest waterborne
commerce will be determined in large measure by devel­
opments on the national and international scene, develop­
ments over which the region has little control. The future
of their trade, however, will also depend upon other fac­
tors, such as careful planning of the future economic de­
velopment of the region, the maintenance of peaceful
labor-management relations in the shipping industry, and
the pursuit of active port development and port promo­
22

tion programs. These are within the realm of local action
and will assume increasing importance when the world’s
commerce returns to more normal commercial channels.
Compared with many other regions of the nation the
Northwest is still a “ young” economy and its period of
greatest expansion probably still lies in the future. The
two most important industries in the Pacific Northwest
are agriculture and lumber— both extractive industries.
The predominance of these two fields in the Pacific
Northwest economy is reflected in the statistics of foreign
and domestic commerce which show a similar lack of
diversification. This lack of diversification has many dis­
advantages as far as waterborne trade is concerned, par­
ticularly foreign trade. Dependence upon a few exports
of an agricultural and raw material nature subjects the
economy to wide swings in the volume of trade in re­
sponse to changing demands and at the same time limits
the geographical distribution of the region’s trade. On the
other side of the balance of trade, a lack of diversification
limits the market for imports, particularly raw materials.
The introduction of more general manufacturing and
the conservation of the natural resources of the area, a
process already underway, are prerequisite to the long
run development of the economy and its trade. Present
manufacturing devoted to the processing of raw materials
produced in the region could be further expanded as
could the conversion of waste materials into by-products.
The development of additional new industry, on the other
hand, is made particularly feasible in the Northwest be­
cause of the large potential power supply.
With further economic development it would be reason­
able to expect that the present imbalance of trade, that is
the large excess of exports over imports, would be re­
duced. The present large export balance has been sup­
ported by the unusual conditions of postwar world trade.
Under more normal conditions it is doubtful if such a
volume of exports could be maintained in view of the
specialized nature of exports and the limited market avail­
able for imports in the Pacific Northwest.
At the present time foreign trade is much less impor­
tant to the Northwest than domestic trade; nevertheless
it appears that the best opportunity for an expansion of
waterborne trade in the future lies in the foreign trade
area. Coastwise and intercoastal water carriers have been
facing increasing competition from land carriers and have
been fighting a losing battle up to this point. During the
postwar period the volume of this domestic waterborne
trade has been maintained largely by an increase in petro­
leum shipments which has offset losses elsewhere. Such
petroleum shipments, however, will probably decrease as
the petroleum reserves of nearby western Canada are de­




23

veloped. While all possible efforts should be made by
water carriers to improve their service, possibilities for ex­
pansion appear to be very limited. Foreign trade, on the
other hand, offers much better prospects in view of the
increasing dependence of this nation upon foreign trade
and the advantageous geographical location of the North­
west. The development of markets in the Northwest for
imports and markets abroad for an increasing variety of
their exports should move hand in hand with the eco­
nomic development of the region.
In the past decade the economic expansion of the Pa­
cific Northwest has been exceedingly rapid. This expan­
sion, however, has been largely the result of wartime de­
mands and the unsettled international situation following
the war. At the end of World War II there was consider­
able doubt as to whether the Northwest could consolidate
and retain the expansion which took place during the war.
These fears, however, proved to be unfounded and during
the postwar years which preceded Korea the Northwest
appeared to be digesting its wartime gains successfully.
The aluminum industry, for example, owed its develop­
ment entirely to W orld War II and it was rather gener­
ally expected that production would have to be drasti­
cally curtailed with the return of peace. Such, however,
did not prove to be the case and civilian demands were
successfully developed to replace military demand.
With the advent of the Korean War and our largescale rearmament program it appears that the Northwest
has again embarked on a period of expansion, the immedi­
ate course of which will be dictated by military demands.
This second dose of military demand poses certain dan­
gers for the Pacific Northwest. While fears of downward
adjustments following W orld War II did not materialize,
the period of quasi-peace was an extremely short one and
now with new military demands the pattern of develop­
ment may be diverted still further from that which might
have taken place under more normal conditions.
The unusual demand conditions of the postwar world
have been reflected in the foreign trade of the Pacific
Northwest. The world food shortage which followed the
war and the demand for materials for reconstruction, par­
ticularly lumber, still were large factors in the demand for
Pacific Northwest exports when the new demands coinci­
dent to the Korean conflict were added. This continuing
high level of demand for traditional exports should not
obscure the need for a greater diversification of exports
and markets which will be needed if foreign trade is to be
maintained or expanded under more normal conditions of
commercial demand. Efforts also should be made to ex­
ploit the Pacific Northwest’s proximity to the Orient by
developing a more extensive transshipment trade with
interior sections of the nation.

APPENDIX A
F O R E IG N

TRADE

O F THE O R E G O N

CUSTOM S

D IS T R IC T 1

ed in 1811 at Astoria. Portland was founded in 1845, and
the territory became a state in 1859.

h e Oregon customs district includes the ports situ­
ated within the State of Oregon itself— e.g., Portland,
Astoria, and Coos Bay— and two ports in Washington
located along the Columbia River— Longview and Van­
couver, Washington. With the exception of Coos Bay
harbor, all of these ports are fresh-water ports on the
banks of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers and pro­
vide the only deep-water harbors between San Francisco
and Cape Flattery to the north.

Direction of trade

Since 1938 Asia has ranked among the first three ex­
port markets of the Oregon customs district. In 1939 and
1950 Asia was Oregon’s principal export market. The
chief products shipped have been lumber and other forest
products and wheat and wheat flour— mainly to China,
Japan, and the Philippines. Before the war Japan took a
large volume of metal scrap, a movement that has not
been resumed since that time.
The United Kingdom and continental Europe are the
other major areas to which Oregon’s exports are shipped,
but their share of export value fell sharply from 1938-39
to 1950. The principal cargoes to Europe consist of wheat
and wheat flour, lumber, and fruit.
South America, meanwhile, has become increasingly
important in Oregon’s export trade. In 1950 she was the
third largest market for Oregon’s exports, with lumber
and wheat the most important products.

The area embraced by the Oregon customs district has
had a long and colorful history. The Oregon coast was
first sighted in 1542 when Cabrillo and his chief com­
mander, Bartolomé Ferrelo, sailed northward from Cali­
fornia in the search for the Northwest Passage. Other
Spanish and English explorers continued the search. In
1578 Sir Francis Drake reached the Northwest coast and
named the land New Albion. But the Columbia River,
around which Oregon’s commerce has centered, was not
discovered until 1788 when Captain Robert Gray, an
American from Boston, entered the mouth of the Colum­
bia River and sailed up the river for some distance. Fur­
ther exploration by Lewis and Clark in 1804 and 1805
established the fact that the river did not provide an eastwest passageway across the North American continent.
But the discovery of two new and promising economic
resources— furs and timber— paved the way for the eco­
nomic development of the area. A trading post was found-

For the first six months of 1951, Asia accounted for
almost two-thirds of Oregon’s total exports because of in­
creased military and economic activity in the Orient fol­
lowing the outbreak of the Korean conflict. As a result,
the share of other major export markets in total export
value fell in the period January-June 1951, compared
with the same period in the previous year, although actual
value figures had increased.

1 The data presented in Appendices A and B are derived from two sources.
Statistics for l9 3 8 and 1939 by all methods of transportation were obtained
from the United States Department of Commerce’s F o r e i g n C o m m e r c e a n d
N a v i g a t i o n , while the current machine tabulation code sheets of the Bureau
of the Census provided the vessel shipment figures for 1950 and JanuaryJune 1951 (Reports F T 752 and 352 of the Bureau of the Census).
For the Oregon customs district, the use of the two types of statistics
makes little difference in comparability since the majority of Oregon’s
foreign trade originates or is destined to points in the state. In the case of
W ashington, on the other hand, the two types of statistics create a rather
large discrepancy and reduce the value of any comparisons between 1938*39
ana 1950-51 figures. Trade with Canada accounts for the major share of
the difference, with transshipment trade responsible for the remainder. A s
a result, Canada’s share in W ashington’s total trade in 1950 may be said to
be larger than the percentages indicate, while the share of other countries
is somewhat smaller.
January-June 1950 and January-June 1951 statistics are shown separately
so that some measure of the changes in foreign trade caused by the out­
break of war in Korea is possible.

Although imports are much less important than ex­
ports in Oregon’s trade, Asia is also the principal source
of imports. Her share in Oregon’s trade, however,
dropped by almost one-half from 1938-39 to 1950. Part
of the decline can be explained by the failure of the Asian
nations to regain their prewar volume of exports and by
the shift toward bulk shipments— such as wheat and flour
— which has eliminated a large part of the jute imports

V a l u e a n d D is t r ib u t io n of O regon C u s t o m s D is t r ic t E xp or t T rade , b y T rade A r e a
(in millions of dollars)

1010
loo ■ - ■ ^

1070

f-

men

•Nf

Percent
of
total
0.4

January-June
i oen
Percent
of
Value
total
0.2
0.6
2.2
0.7

r

January-June
lOCI
Percent
of
total
Value
0.6
0.6

Central A m e r i c a ............

0.7

Percent
of
total
0.1
2.4

W e s t Indies and Cuba

0.1

0.3

South America

...............

1.2

4.2

......................

1.1
9.3

3.9

0.7

2.3

1.6

2.1

0.9

3.1

0.4

0.3

32.1

10.7

35.2

8.9

10.7

5.1

16.5

10.5

9.9

9.8

33.9

4.9

16.3

8.1

11.7

4.3

14.0

12.7

12.0

5.9

20.4

11.4

37.5

35.8

47.3

11.4

36.8

64.4

60.7
2.0

Canada

................................

Scandinavia

Asia

Value
*

Value
*

Percent
of
total
*

0.7

2.3

Value
0.3
2.0

0.1
1.1

0.4

5.7

7.5

2.9

9.5

1.0
2.1

3.5

8.5

11.3

3.2

10.3

7.9

2.6

0.9
2.0
7.4

0.1

0.2

0.1

2.9

0.7

2.2

2.1

0.7

2.5

0.7

0.3
2.2

2.2

...................................................................................................

2.6

3.5

1.5

4.8

4.5

4.2

Total ................................................................................................

29.0

100.0

~30A

100.0

75.7

100.0

30.9

100.0

106.1

100.0

Africa

*L e ss than $50,000 or 0.05 percent.
N o t e : Figures may not add to totals because of rounding.
Sources: U nited States Department of Commerce, F o r e i g n C o m m e r c e




and N a v ig a tio n ;

24

Bureau of the Census, F T 752,

A
W a te rb o r n e E x p o r ts b y

n
*
t r j*
P o r t o j L a d in g .

V a l u e and D ist r ib u t io n of O regon C u st o m s D istrict I mport T rade , by T rade A rea
(in millions of dollars)

Canada

VKJ
\
Percent
of
total
Value
0.7
0.1

................................................................................................

inio

(

Value
0.1

Percent
of
total
0.8

men
Percent
of
total
Value
0.1
0.4

January-June
1OCrt
Percent
of
total
Value
*
0.2

0.1

0.7

0.1

2.0
—

18.9
—

0.9
—

5.9
—

30.4

3.1

29.7

4.4

29.8

0.8

3.2

0.3

2.8

0.8

5.0

0.4

3.6

0.8
0.4

3.0

0.3

3.1

2.2

15.2

2.9

28.2

5.8
—

39.7

0.3
*

3.5
*

0.3
*

3.7
*

3.2
*

13.4

14.8

1.4

17.0

7.2

.....................................................................................

1.1
0.2

2.1

0.2

2.3

United Kingdom and Ireland ................................................

0.4

5.6

0.4

4.4

Continental Europe .............................................. .......................

0.9

12.2

0.6

7.1

1.2

3.2

A s i a .......................................................................................................
Oceania ..............................................................................................

4.4

59.6
1.2

63.6
0.9

8.1

34.1
0.1

1.4
*

13.3

0.2

2.4
#

10.1

0.3

5.3
0.1
*

100.0

8.3

100.0

23.7

100.0

10.4

100.0

Central A m e r ic a .............................................................................
W e st Indies and C u b a ...............................................................
South America ................................................................................
Scandinavia

Africa

0.1
*

...................................................................................................

Total ................................................................................................

~~7A

*Less than $50,000 or 0.05 percent.
N o te : Figures may not add to totals because of rounding.
Sources: United States Department of Commerce, F o r e i g n

Bureau of the Census, F T 352,

C om m erce and N a v ig a tio n ;

January-June
1UC1
Percent
of
total
Value

—•

_ _

0.2

W a te r b o r n e

5.7

—
100.0

14.7

Im p o rts b y

P ort

of

Un­

la d i n g .

stitute the bulk of vegetable food exports, and lumber
accounts for more than half of Oregon’s exports of forest
products. From 1938 to 1950 the few changes that oc­
curred in the composition of Oregon’s exports consisted
of shifts between the two principal categories of vegetable
food products and wood and paper products.

from the Orient ordinarily used in the manufacture of
bags.
South America and continental Europe, and Central
America and Oceania since the war, are the other sources
of Oregon’s small volume of imports. South and Central
America’s shares rose sharply from 1938 to 1950, while
continental Europe’s share fell during the same period
because of the decline of imports of specialized manufac­
tured products.

In January-June 1951 exports of vegetable food prod­
ucts rose phenomenally to 72 percent of total export value,
compared with 45 percent for the same period a year
earlier. Wheat exports to India probably accounted for
much of the increase.

In January-June 1951, Asia and continental Europe
improved their relative shares of import value, while
South America’s share was maintained, compared with
the same period in 1950. Central America’s share, how­
ever, fell sharply and there were no imports from
Oceania.

Oregon’s imports show somewhat greater variety than
her exports, although the vegetable food products group
again is the leading commodity group by value. Textile
fibers and manufactures and inedible vegetable products
constitute other major imports. In addition, edible ani­
mal products, principally fish and fish products from
Japan, were important in 1950.

Commodity composition of trade

Products of the forest and agriculture have always
dominated Oregon’s export trade. The vegetable food
products group is the major commodity group, followed
by wood and paper products. Wheat and wheat flour con­
V alue

and

D is t r ib u t io n

of

O regon

Coffee imports increased from 37 percent of vegetable
food imports by value in 1938 to 95 percent in 1950, while
their volume increased from 16 million pounds in 1938

C ustom s

D is t r ic t

E xport

T rade,

by

C o m m o d it y

G roup

(in millions of dollars)

Animals and animal products, edible..............................................
Animals and animal products, inedible.........................................

Value
0.9
*

Percent
of
total
3.0

a

1020

r

Value
0.7

Value
6.0

0.1
63.8
32.4
14.8

38.5
24.6
5.4

January-June
January-June
17%JU----------- \ /
y31* 1-...... >
Percent
Percent
of
of
Value
total
Value
total
3.3
10.6
3.7
3.5
0.5
1.5
1.1
1.0
14.0
45.2
76.4
72.0
7.5
24.3
62.3
58.8
2.7
8.7
5.6
5.3
0.4
1.2
0.5
0.5
0.4
1.1
0.2
0.2
9.4
30.4
21.2
19.9
4.6
14.8
15.7
14.8
0.1
0.4
0.2
0.1
0.6
1.9
0.6
0.6

t----

Percent
of
total
8.0

Vegetable food products and beverages.........................................
W h e a t ........................................................................................................

20.1
12.1
1.9

0.1
69.4
41.7
6.4

19.4
9.9
4.5

Vegetable products, inedible, except fibers and w ood..........

0.2
*

0.6
*

0.1

0.2

0.8

1.1

0.1

0.2

0.5

0.7

W ood and p a p e r .......................................................................................

6.2
4.2
*

21.5
14.5

24.0
17.2

23.0
13.3

30.4
17.6

0.1

7.3
5.2
*

0.1

0.2

0.3

Metals and manufactures, except machinery and vehicles.

1.3

4.6

2.7

8.7

1.1

1.5

0.1

0.5
*

0.2
*

0.6
*

2.6

3.4

1.6

5.2

1.4

1.3

0.8

1.0

*

1.5

0.6

0.6

0.2

*

0.5

0.1

0.5

0.7

0.3

1.0

0.3

0.3

29.0

100.0

30.4

100.0

75.7

100.0

30.9

100.0

106.1

100.0

Textile fibers and manufactures .....................................................

Chemicals and related products .....................................................
Miscellaneous

...........................................................................................

Total ..........................................................................................................

*

*

incn

Percent
of
total
2.2

1.6

2.0
50.9
32.6
7.1

*Less than $50,000 or 0.05 percent.
N o t e : Figures may not add to totals because of rounding.

Sources: United States Department of Commerce, Foreign Commerce and Navigation; Bureau of the Census, FT 752, Waterborne Exports.




25

V a l u e a n d D istr ibu tio n of O regon C u sto m s D istrict I mport T rade , by C o m m o dity G roup
(in millions of dollars)
1030
V*-*
^
Percent
of
total
Value

11150

f

January-June
men
Percent
of
total
Value
1.2
11.4

men
Percent
of
total
26.7

January-June
1OC1
Percent
of
Value
total
1.8
12.0
*
0.2

Animals and animal products, edible..............................................

0.2

2.8

Value
0.3

Percent
of
total
3.1

Animals and animal products, inedible.........................................

0.1

1.6

0.2

2.2

0.1

0.6

0.1

0.7

Vegetable food products and beverages....................................
Coffee, raw or g r e e n ........................................................................

2.7
1.0

36.3
14.2

2.7
1.0

32.3
11.9

7.4
7.0

31.2
29.4

3.8
3.6

36.0
34.4

3.3
3.0

Value
6.3

22.6
20.3

Vegetable products, inedible, except fibers and w ood..........

1.4

18.6

1.5

18.4

1.1

4.7

1.0

9.9

2.5

17.0

Textile fibers and m an u factu res........................................................
Vegetable fibers and m an u factu res...........................................

1.9
1.7

25.9
23.4

2.4
2.2

29.4
26.2

5.4
3.5

22.9
14.9

3.4
1.7

32.3
16.1

2.5
1.4

17.0
9.5

W o o d and p a p e r ...................................................................... ................

0.1

1.2

0.1

1.0

0.3

1.1

0.1

0.9

0.3

2.2

Nonmetallic m in e r a ls .............................................................................

0.1

1.8

0.1

1.8

0.2

1.0

0.1

0.5

0.2

1.5

Metals and manufactures, except machinery and vehicles.
Iron and steel mill products ........................................................

4.9
—

1.7
0.9

7.2
3.6

0.4
0.1

3.5
1.2

2.7
2.2

18.2
15.2

0.7

0.7
n.a.
*

7.9
—

Machinery and vehicles ......................................................................

0.4
n.a.
*

0.5

0.3

1.4

0.1

1.1

0.3

2.0

Chemicals and related p r o d u c ts ........................................................

0.4

4.8

0.2

2.6

0.7

2.8

3.3

0.9

6.3

Miscellaneous

............................................................................................

0.1

1.4

0.1

0.8

0.1

0.4

0.3
*

0.4

0.2

1.0

Total ..........................................................................................................

7.4

100.0

8.3

100.0

23.7

100.0

10.4

100.0

14.7

100.0

*L ess than $50,000 or 0.05 percent,
n.a.— not available.
N o t e : Figures may not add to totals because of rounding.
Sources: United States Department of Commerce, F o r e i g n

C o m m erc e and N a v ig a tio n ;

to 20 million pounds in 1950. Imports of vegetable fibers,
on the other hand, have dropped because of the increased
use of bulk shipping mentioned above.
In the first six months of 1951 Oregon’s import trade
increased only slightly, compared with 1950, and con­

Bureau of the Census, F T 352,

W a te rb o r n e I m p o r ts.

tributed further to the imbalance in Oregon’s trade since
exports rose sharply. The relative importance of vegetable
food products and textile fibers and manufactures de­
clined, while imports of metals and manufactures rose
substantially.

APPENDIX B
FOREIGN TRADE OF THE WASHINGTON CUSTOMS DISTRICT1
h e

claimed to have entered an inlet in the area of Puget
Sound. In 1778 Captain James Cook passed the strait as
he sailed up the Northwest coast as far as Nootka Sound
on the wrest side of Vancouver Island. But it was not until
1787 that Captain Charles William Barkley, an English­
man, found and named Juan de Fuca Strait. Puget Sound,
however, was not discovered and explored until 1792
when Captain George Vancouver entered its waters.
Seattle was founded in 1852 and Tacoma in 1868, near
the site of the Hudson Bay Company’s trading post at
Nisqually. Washington became a state in 1889. In 1897
the discovery of gold in Alaska and the Yukon Territory

Washington customs district covers the entire

state of Washington and includes the major ports of
T
Seattle and Tacoma and other ports situated on Puget
Sound and along the Washington coastline, with the ex­
ception of those ports on the Columbia River which are
included in the Oregon customs district.
The area now comprising the state of Washington re­
mained unexplored and undeveloped for some time after
the discovery of the Oregon territory. Early in 1592 a
Greek pilot sailing under the name of Juan de Fuca
1 See footnote on page 24.

V a l u e a n d D is t r ib u t io n of W a s h i n g t o n

Custom s

D is t r ic t E x p o r t T r a d e , b y

T rade A r ea

(in millions of dollars)
1030

1030

f

January-June
1ocn_

men

Percent
of
total
19.6

Value
8.3

Percent
of
total
12.0

January-June
mei

.............................

14.3

Percent
of
total
20.6
1.1

1.2

1.5

3.8

5.4

1.3

4.5

2.9

W e s t Indies and Cuba ......................................... .............................
.............................

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.9

1.3

0.4

1.3

0.2

3.8
0.2

1.7

2.5

2.7

3.5

9.0

12.9

2.9

9.6

9.1

11.9

.............................

1.7

2.5

1.7

2.1

2.5

1.7

5.7

10.5

15.1
15.4

11.6

14.8

4.3

10.1

12.9

18.1

26.0

2.9
8.3

9.6
27.5

0.5
6.6

0.7

United Kingdom and Ireland ........................... .............................
.............................

3.6
6.2

17.8

8.7
23.4

................................................................................ .............................
.............................

28.1
0.8

40.7

33.9

43.3

21.3

30.7

7.9

26.3

30.4

39.9

1.2

0.9

1.2

0.3

0.4

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.8

0.8

1.0

1.1

1.5

0.5

1.8

1.6

2.1

100.0

78.3

100.0

69.5

100.0

30.1

100.0

76.3

100.0

Value

Asia

N o t e : Figures may not add to totals because of rounding.
Sources: United States Department of Commerce, F o r e i g n




10.6

Value
15.3

C o m m erce and N a v ig a tio n ;

26

Bureau of the Census, F T 752,

"Value
4.1

Percent
of
total
13.5

Value
6.8

W a te r b o r n e E x p o r ts b y

Percent
of
total
8.9

P o r t o f L a d in g .

V a l u e a n d D ist r ibu t io n of W a s h in g t o n C ust o m s D istrict I mport T rade , by T rade A rea
(in millions of dollars)

Value
12.7
0.6
*

Canada ................................
Central A m e r ic a ............
W e st Indies and Cuba
South A m e r ic a .................
Scandinavia ......................

1.7
0.6
0.9

Asia
Oceania ,
Africa .
T o t a l ...................................................................................................

Percent
of
total
43.3
2.0
0.1
5.7
2.2
3.2

1.1

3.9

0.9
0.9

11.4
0.1
*

39.0
0.5
0.1

12.5
0.2
*

29.3

100.0

34.5

January-June
1950
Percent
of
Value
total

IDEA
Percent
of
total
Value

1939
Percent
of
Value
total
17.6
51.0
0.6
1.7
*
0.1
1.3
3.9
0.4
1.1

TOO------------V

2.5
2.8
36.4
0.4

28.8
4.0
1.1
18.0

33.7
4.7
1.3
21.0

12.7
2.5
1.1
7.2

34.3
6.8
2.9
19.4

0.5
2.2

0.6
2.5

0.5
2.1

5.0

5.8
28.1

0.2
0.8
2.4

0.1

24.0
1.9
0.1

100.0

85.6

January-June
1951
Percent
of
total
Value
12.1
20.5
1.9
0.1
21.9
0.5
3.5
1.9
15.2

6.4

9.2

3.2
0.2
37.1
0.9
6.0
3.1

2.2

1.0

24.7
2.7

0.1

0.1

0.2

0.1

25.8
3.0
0.2

100.0

37.0

100.0

59.1

100.0

1.9

*Less than $50,000 or 0.05 percent.
N o t e : Figures may not add to totals because of rounding.
Sources: United States Department of Commerce, F o r e ig n C o m m e r c e and N a v i g a t i o n ; Bureau of the Census, F T 352, W a t e r b o r n e I m p o r ts b y P o r t o f
U n la d in g .

half of 1950 since total export value had more than dou­
bled, but relative shares remained about the same.
On the import side Canada is the chief source of Wash­
ington’s foreign imports, while Asia is the other major
supplier. Principal commodities imported from the Orient
include fish and fish products and vegetable products.
Since the war South America has also become impor­
tant in Washington’s import trade. Imports of coffee and
copper ores have been responsible for much of the im­
provement.
Imports in January-June 1951 were also above the level
for the entire year 1950. South America’s share of import
value increased, Asia’s share remained fairly constant,
and Canada’s share fell quite sharply, compared with the
same period in the previous year. Copper ore and coffee
imports reached new high levels and explain much of the
increase.

marked the turning point in Seattle’s transformation into
a thriving commercial center.
Direction of trade

Like the other customs districts along the Pacific Coast,
Washington’s leading export market is Asia. Washing­
ton’s total export value in 1950, however, was only frac­
tionally above the 1938 figure although earlier postwar
years showed substantial improvement. But by JanuaryJune 1951 Washington’s exports exceeded the 1950 total,
and Asia’s share equaled the prewar level both percent­
agewise and by value.
The other major export markets of the Washington
customs district are Canada, the United Kingdom and
Ireland, continental Europe, and South America. Trade
with Canada accounts for roughly one-fifth of Washing­
ton’s export trade if land shipments are included in the
1950 figures. Trade with the United Kingdom and Ire­
land fell from 1938 to 1950, while trade with Europe and
South America improved over the same period. Ship­
ments of grains, foodstuffs, and lumber predominate in
the outbound movement. For the first six months of 1951
all export markets registered sizable gains over the first
V alue

and

D is t r ib u t io n

of

W a s h in g t o n

Commodity composition of trade

In 1950 vegetable food products and beverages led all
commodity groups in total export value, compared with
1938-39 when vegetable food products placed second be-

Cu stom s

D is t r ic t E x p o r t T r a d e , b y

C o m m o d it y

G roup

(in millions of dollars)
1030
ro a

\

1030

r

January-June

m en

r

Value
6.1

Percent
of
total
7.9

Value
3.6

Percent
of
total
5.2

I

m en.
«

f

Percent
of
total
6.4

January-June
^

m ei

f

Percent
of
total

Animals and animal products, edible..............................................

6.7

Percent
of
total
9.7

Animals and animal products, inedible.........................................

2.5

3.6

1.7

2.2

2.5

3.7

0.7

2.3

1.8

2.3

Vegetable food products and beverages.......................................

15.5
4.4

22.5
6.3

16.7
5.1

21.5
6.5

25.7
12.8

37.0
18.4

10.0
4.8

33.2
15.9

33.0
23.3

43.3
30.5

Vegetable products, inedible, except fibers and w ood..........

0.9

1.3

0.7

0.8

2.2

3.2

0.4
13.5
3.9

0.5

0.6
14.9
6.9

0.8

0.6

3.4
1.2

4.8
1.1

19.1
8.8

11.4
3.4

0.9
16.4
4.9

1.0
0.4

6.4

Textile fibers and manufactures.....................................................
W ood and p a p e r .......................................................................................
L u m b e r .....................................................................................................

4.3
1.3

14.4
4.2

18.0
6.5

23.6
8.6

Value

19.6
5.6

Value
1.9

Value
1.6

2.1

1.4

Nonmetallic m in e r a ls.............................................................................

1.5

2.2

1.4

1.7

1.5

2.1

0.9

2.9

0.6

0.8

Metals and manufactures, except machinery and vehicles.
Copper and m anu factures...............................................................

17.8
14.8

25.9
21.4

25.4
18.9

32.6
24.2

14.2
10.6

20.5
15.3

7.1
6.2

23.7
20.6

10.4
7.6

13.7
10.0

Machinery and v e h ic le s ........................................................................

6.8

9.9

6.6

8.5

4.6

6.5

2.2

7.4

3.0

4.0

Chemicals and related products..........................................................
Miscellaneous ...........................................................................................

1.3

2.0

2.2

2.8

1.9

2.8

0.9

2.0

2.8

1.6

2.1

1.2

1.7

0.6

3.1
2.0

1.2
0.7

0.9

Total ..........................................................................................................

68.9

100.0

TiU )

100.0

69.5

100.0

30.1

100.0

76.3

100.0

N o t e : Figures may not add to totals because of rounding.
Sources: United States Department of Commerce, F o r eig n C o m m e r c e an d N a v i g a ti o n ; Bureau of the Census, F T 752, W a te r b o r n e E x p o r ts .




27

1.5

V a l u e a n d D ist r ibu t io n of W a s h in g t o n C usto m s D istrict I mport T rade , by C o m m o d ity G roup
(in millions of dollars)
miQ
Percent
of
Value
total
5.5
1.6

Animals and animal products, edible..............................................

1030
^
>
Percent
of
Value
total
2.2
6.5

f

1OCA
Percent
of
Value
total

/

January»June
- ' men
Percent
of
Value
total
2.1
5.8

January-June
10C1
Percent
of
total
Value

1.4

4.6

1.5

4.4

7.7
1.9

9.0

Animals and animal products, inedible.........................................

2.2

0.7

1.9

0.7

1.1

V egetable food products and b e v e r a g e s ...................................
Coffee, raw or g r e e n ....................................... ........... .. ..................

6.5
1.5

22.2
5.0

6.4
1.2

18.4
3.4

12.6
8.7

14.7
10.2

4.6
2.8

12.5
7.6

17.3
15.9

29.4
26.9

Vegetable products, inedible, except fibers and w ood..........
Copra ................. ............................................... .....................................

1.3
—

4.3
—

1.0
—

3.0
—

5.2
3.5

6.1
4.1

1.3
0.4

3.6
1.1

4.2
3.1

7.1
5.3

Textile fibers and m a n u fa ctu res.......... ....................... ..................
Vegetable fibers and manufactures .........................................
W o o d and p a p e r ................................................... ...................................
Lo gs ...................................................................... ...................................
Lum ber ............................................................... .................. . ..............
Pulpwood ................................................................................................
W o o d p u l p .......................................................... ...................................
Standard newsprint ...........................................................................

4.8
0.5

16.4
1.8

5.6
0.5

16.1
1.4

5.6
2.8

6.6
3.3

2.5
0.9

6.7
2.6

4.6
2.7

7.8
4.6

8.4
1.6
3.6
0.1
0.8
1.7

12.4
2.3
5.8
0.1
1.3
2.3

18.4
5.8
1.4

21.5
6.8
1.7
1.9
2.3
7,7

7.8
2.4
0.6
0.7
0.4
3.4

21.1
6.6
1.7
1.9
1.0
9.1

9.7
2.8
1.9
0.9
0.9
2.6

16.5
4.7
3.2
1.6
1.5
4.4

1.5

1.8

0.7

1.9

0.9

28.6
18.3

33.4
21.3

15.7
10.8

42.5
29.1

16.3
12.1

1.6
27.6
20.4

...........................................................................

1.2

28.7
5.6
12.3
0.2
2.7
5.9
4.1

1.4

35.9
6.6
16.7
0.4
3.8
6.5
4.0

M etals and manufactures, except machinery and vehicles.
Copper ore, s c r a p ................................................................................

1.6
1.0

5.4
3.4

1.3
0.6

3.8
1.6

Machinery and vehicles

Nonmetallic minerals

1 .6

2.0
6.6

2.3

3.9

......................................................................

0.4

1,2

0.1

0.3

1.4

1.6

0.5

1.4

1.2

2.0

Chemicals and related p r o d u c ts ................. ......................................

1.4

4.9

1.8

5.2

1.3

1.5

0.4

1.1

0.9

1.5

M iscella n eou s...............................................................................................

0.8

2.7

0.8

2.4

1.4

1.6

0.6

1.5

0.9

1.5

29.3

100.0

34.5

100.0

85.6

100.0

37.0

100.0

59.1

100.0

Total ..........................................................................................................
Sources: United States Department of Commerce,

F o r eig n

C o m m erc e an d N a v ig a tio n ;

W a te r b o r n e I m p o r ts .

W ood and paper imports led all other imports in 1938,
followed by vegetable food products and textile fibers. In
1950 the positions were changed somewhat as metals and
manufactures led with 33 percent, followed by wood and
paper products and vegetable food products. If shipments
by land from Canada are included in Washington’s im­
port trade, however, wood and paper products again be­
come the principal commodity group.
In January-June 1951 vegetable food products, metals
and manufactures, and wood and paper products led all
commodity groups in that order. A fivefold increase in
coffee imports from the same period a year earlier was
responsible for the leading role of vegetable food imports.
This gain was achieved mainly at the expense of metals
and wood imports, but the share of other commodity
groups also suffered.

hind metals and manufactures. Wheat and wheat flour
have been the principal commodities exported in this
group. In 1950 metals and manufactures occupied second
place in export value. Copper ingots and bars produced in
Washington smelters and refineries formed the major
proportion of metal exports.
The miscellaneous wood and paper products group,
among which lumber was most important, was the only
other important export group. A large share of these for­
est products were destined for the Asian countries and
Europe.
During the first half of 1951 vegetable food products
and wood and paper products increased their shares com­
pared with a year earlier. Exports of metals and manu­
factures, however, declined.




Bureau of the Census, F T 352,

-+■

28