Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/1474

 1118

TURKEY AND TRIBUTARY STATES: — EGYPT

The receipts from tobacco were £E1, 006,526; in 1897, £E1,044,780.

in 1895, £E968,576; in 1896,

Goods imported into Egypt are examined Ijy experts, who determine their value either according to the purchase price in their original country as indicated on the invoices, plus the cost of transport, freiglit, insurance, &c., or according to the wholesale price at the port of disembarkation, minus a discount of 10 per cent, in urder, however, to facilitate custoins operations, the administration, in communication with the merchants interested, establishes, on the same basis as above, periodical tiiritts for such articles of importation as cotton-goods, indigo, coal, petroleum, rice, flour, metals, sugar, er cent, ad valorem, withont taking into account the amount of that duty. As regards exports, there are tariffs for nearly all of them, estimated monthly for some of them, quarterly for others, in the same manner as the tarifls of imports are established.

The quantities recorded in statistics are those declared by the merchants and controlled by the Customs.

The origin of imports and destination of exports are declared by importers and exporters, and controlled, as much as possible, by the searchers and appraisers of the Custom House.

The statistics of the Customs only give general commerce. In order to know the amount of special trade deduction must be made from the total of imports of the value of goods re-exported, which, however, has only an inconsiderable importance. In fact tlie value of these goods amounts to about three or four hundred thousand pounds, one half of which is due to tobacco re-exported in the form of cigarettes. The transit trade is of no imjiort- ance. At the utmost its value amo ;nts to 600,000L per annum, nine-tenths of which represents the value of coal imported at Port Said to be re-exported on payment of a duty of 1 per cent, ad valorem. Goods temporarily deposited or re-shipped are not included in the "transit."

From the efforts made by the Customs authorities to ensure accuracy, and from the method of valuation employed, the .commercial statistics of Egypt may be regarded as comparatively exact.

The subjoined statement shows the total vahie of the imports from Egypt into the United Kingdom, and of the exports of British produce and manufactures to Egypt, in live years, according to the Board of Trade returns : —

— 1893

1894

1895

•1896

1897

£ Imports from Egypt into U. K. 8,845,426 Exports of British produce to Egypt. . : . . j 3,364,718

£

9,284,801

3,996,656

£

9,524,507

3,349,162

£

9,659,376

■

3,777,966

£

9,294,240

4,435,101

The following table shows the values of the principal imports into the United Kingdom from Egypt, and of the principal exports from the United Kingdom to Egypt : —

Year

British Imports from Egypt

Exports of British Produce to Egypt

1 1

Raw

Cotton

Cotton Seeds

Sugar

Beans

Cotton Goods

Coal

£

755,237 945,854 763,568 835 369 899,005

Iron

£ 174,303 161,034 143, 34C) 248,132 409,172

Machi- nery

£

141,880 \ 158,167 146,138 151,011 249,479 1

i 1893

i 1894

1 1895

1896

1896

£ £

5,:J64,S17 1 2,043,725 5,785,538 ! 1,832,725 6,420,971 1,591,006 6,833,315 1,590,429 6,484,450 1,801,079 1

£

255,381 190,382 264,055 221,147

94,829

£ 571,007 74!»,92S 482,317 342,538 227,716

£ 1,569,176 1,743,409 1,491,791 1,520,708 1,722,955

The imports of wheat from Egy]jt, 352,005Z. in 1891, amounted to only 8,73H. in 1897.