Because of the magnitude of the copper industry of the United States, great refining plants have been built up here. American capital also has gone largely into Canadian, Mexican and South American copper properties. As a result the United States now imports nearly one-third as much copper as is produced (18 per cent. of the total world output in 1917). Thus American capital controls, through refining in addition to ownership of mines, 78 per cent. of the world’s copper production. This control should also be equally strong as regards selling. Obviously, a large part of our domestic, and, as regards statistics, all the imported copper, is exported in finished form--copper ingots and bars, brass, electrical machinery, etc. But as regards selling and even mine ownership in Mexico and South America, there is considerable German control; although the important mines of Canada, Mexico and South America are owned by either American, British or French interests, except those owned by local foreign capital. TABLE 35.--GEOGRAPHICAL AND FINANCIAL CONTROL OF THE WORLD’S COPPER MINES (Production in Metric Tons) -----+---------+------------------+---------+-----+---------+ Per-| | | | Per-| | cent-| | | |cent-| | age | Average | |Estimated| age | | of |1916-1917| | capacity| of | Owned by| World|output of| |output of|world| U. S. | total| copper |Country of origin | copper |total| capital | -----+---------+------------------+---------+-----+---------+ | |_Western | | | | | |Hemisphere_ | | | | 59.2| 868,903|United States | 928,000| 57.5| 899,000| 3.3| 49,168|Canada | 58,000| 3.6| 28,000| 3.4| 49,478|Mexico | 65,000| 4.0| 49,000| 1.0| 14,000|Cuba | 10,000| 0.6| ... | 0.2| 2,000|Venezuela | 2,000| 0.1| ... | 4.8| 70,000|Chile | 110,000| 6.8| 86,000| 3. | 43,620|Peru | 45,000| 2.8| 45,000| 0.4| 6,000|Bolivia | 12,000| 0.8| 6,000| -----+---------+------------------+---------+-----+---------+ 75.4|1,103,169|Total Western | | | | | |Hemisphere |1,230,000| 76.2|1,113,000| | | | | | | | |_Eastern | | | | | |Hemisphere_ | | | | 3.2| 47,500|Africa | 58,000| 3.6| ... | 2.5| 36,550|Australia | 43,000| 2.7| ... | 7.9| 112,900|Japan | 125,000| 7.7| ... | 2.9| 42,000|Spain and Portugal| 42,000| 2.6| ... | 1.3| 18,500|Russia (estimated)| 18,000| 1.1| ... |