Compared with other nations, France has least been able to hold her own in the matter of trade with the Argentine. In 1876 the importations from France formed 23·2 per cent. of the total imports; while in 1908 they formed only 9·9 per cent. of the totals, making a proportional diminution of 13·3 per cent. in thirty-two years. Our imports from England, however, which in 1876 were 24·9 per cent. of the total, had increased to 34 per cent. by 1908; representing a proportional increase of 9 per cent.
We are thus justified in concluding that all our efforts to develop the current of Franco-Argentine exchange will contribute powerfully to fortify the influence of France, and the sense of confraternity between the two Latin nations.
The causes of the decay of the French trade have been recapitulated in an official document despatched in 1904 by the French Chamber of Commerce in Buenos Ayres to the Minister of Commerce.
These causes may be summarised as follows:
1. The exaggerated duties to which many of our products are subjected on entering the Argentine.
2. The competition of local industry with the imports of certain products.
3. The dearness of labour in France, and the consequent cost of manufacture, which in many cases no longer permits us to struggle against our competitors.[78]
4. The imperfection of our equipment for making certain articles.
5. The persistence of our manufacturers in disregarding the tastes of their _clientèle_.
6. The insufficiency of the credit granted by French manufacturers and merchants as compared with those of other competing countries.
7. The frequent lack of technical knowledge on the part of foreign commercial travellers; a lack which almost always prevents them from benefiting as they should from direct contact with their customers.
8. Finally, in the matter of navigation, the expensive character of our vessels, and the resulting dearness of freight.[79]
[Footnote 78: The case of France is especially interesting, because her tendency is towards self-sufficiency——the reverse of the policy of nearly all other countries.]
[Footnote 79: See _Rapport à M. le Ministre du Commerce sur les causes de la diminution du commerce française dans la République Argentine_, 1904.]