The Argentine as a Market

by Nowell Lake Watson

Another important demand is that for tramway material. In this it is satisfactory to see that there is a favourable tendency in favour of English goods. Previously, no doubt, the greater knowledge and experience in the States enabled them to supply cars and material more readily than in England, and the possession by Germany of the Buenos Aires electric works favoured its exportation of the latter. But recently some Preston cars have been put on the road which give the greatest satisfaction. The increase in electric traction in England ought to furnish the experience necessary for the successful development of this branch of trade.

In Agricultural machinery the market is absolutely open, and where there is any opportunity, English firms have undoubtedly succeeded. It is unreasonable to expect that we should be able to compete with the States in sowing, reaping, ploughing, and similar machinery, provided as they are with an experimental field with conditions similar to those prevalent in the Argentine. But in traction engines the Lincoln firms outstrip all their competitors. Rushton, Proctor and Co., Clayton and Shuttleworth, Ransomes, Sims and Jefferies, are names that may be seen all over the country. The genuine solidity of construction in their engines, combined with adaptability to the country’s requirements, has for once overcome the overwhelming attraction of cheapness. Considerable success has also attended their threshing machines, in spite of their comparatively greater expense and of various other factors in favour of American machines.

The case of Agricultural implements is curious. While in axes the United States have increased their already large export, though under the heading of spades, picks, &c., their export of 680 tons in 1905 is 8 tons greater than in 1904, the value is £1900 less, while the English 590 tons is 167.5 tons more than in the previous year with an increase in value of £8080.

In cotton goods there is again a natural monopoly—the preponderating Italian influence among the working classes encouraging the trade with that country in the special line of goods which appeals to them.

But perhaps the most important factor in international trade is the nationality of the importers. In 1823 nearly all the merchants in Buenos Aires were Scotch, and the preponderance of British houses continued until recent years. Then, however, for various reasons—the development, perhaps, of the wool trade on the Continent and the allurements of finance, owing to which many British merchants invested in land and other enterprises, in preference to the less congenial uncertainties of trade—a large number of foreign, especially German, houses appeared, turning the current of trade more in the direction of that country. Whatever the reasons may have been, at the present moment Germany is firmly established in the country, and its trade is continually increasing. It must be added, that although German firms have a natural preference for dealing with their own country, they are always ready to do business with English houses provided that the latter make it profitable for them to do so.

It will be convenient to deal here with the complaints made by importers in the Argentine, of English exporters, and the faults that the latter have to find with the conditions of trade in that country.

Briefly, the chief complaint made of the English manufacturer and merchant is lack of adaptability—the well-worn objection that appears in every Consular report, and is repeated even by tradesmen in this country. The ways in which he shows his stubbornness may seem trifling, but their importance is sufficiently great in practice. Price-lists published solely in English, with those measures and prices which are a continual nightmare to the foreigner, get-up packing that do not quite meet local taste, all these are apparently trivial, but they affect the balance of trade nevertheless.

In cutlery, English goods have been entirely ousted from the popular market. The large British population in the country, however, as well as the wealthier Argentines themselves, who as a rule are extremely partial to English goods, from socks to agricultural machinery, still insist on Sheffield blades, which in the best shops are often the only ones procurable. But the popular demand is for a cheaper article, often manufactured in the country. This the English manufacturer has consistently refused to supply, his reasons being, firstly, that he does not make it, and secondly, that if he did, it would ruin his reputation for good work. The plan adopted abroad of not fixing the maker’s name to an inferior article would safeguard the reputation which the English producer undoubtedly does possess. In this connection it is a strange anomaly that the impression still holds good in England, and seems to prevail even in other countries, that German goods are of inferior quality. This erroneous idea does not, of course, apply to such things as armour plates and machinery. But in the popular mind the impression created by toys “made in Germany” has spread to all small articles emanating from that country. If the work of any country deserves this stigma it is that of America. The undeniable ingenuity and neatness of American products is, unfortunately, very often combined with bad workmanship. In Argentine, according to some authorities, disappointed buyers of American goods are returning to more solid work. Undoubtedly the field for cheap goods is favourable in that country, the moneyless colonists being compelled to buy them irrespective of quality. Besides, there is a delight, to which the Italian is peculiarly susceptible, in always having something new. A bright and new thing pleases most people more than a solid article many years old. And in many directions the yearly improvements and inventions soon reduce the latter to a position of economic inferiority.

Turning to the exporters’ complaints, there are two which must be admitted reasonable. In the first place, the economic conditions of the country as well as the inclinations of the people require exaggerated credit.

Nothing, apparently, will alter this, and the merchant who refuses to take business on these terms must expect to lose it altogether. The other is one that is capable of removal. The English merchant frequently complains that he cannot come into touch with his ultimate customers. The taxes levied on commercial travellers are exorbitant, each province vying with the other in preventing their entrance. From this it follows that few firms can afford to send representatives further afield than Buenos Aires or Rosario, and practically all business is conducted through the larger importing houses of the capital. This is an absolutely prohibitive system that is bound to have the most disastrous effects on the expansion of trade. The intention is no doubt protective. But in a country that is naturally incapable of any industrial development, the policy cannot be considered as anything but unwise.