The important part played by the foreign trade of the Argentine—— Table of imports and exports during recent years——Explanation of their respective movements——Favourable condition of the commercial balance. Method of ascertaining the statistics of exports and imports—— Errors in evaluation——Notes on the import duties on various articles——Variations of the customs duties——Export duties; their transitory character——The trade in bullion. IMPORTS——Their classification according to their countries of origin——Value of imports from each country, with indications of the principal articles imported——The Argentine dependent upon other countries for a large number of manufactured articles—— Concentration of imports at Buenos Ayres. EXPORTS——Their classification according to origin——Value of exports from each district, with indications of the chief articles exported——Decadence of the French trade with the Argentine and its causes. Tabulation, according to importance of the principal products exported by the Argentine——Remarkable increase in agricultural and pastoral exports——Search for new outlets. Eventual denunciation of commercial treaties——Projected new treaty with France——Causes of the superiority of English, German, and North American trade in the Argentine over French trade. “Dumping” in the Argentine——A new client for the Argentine——Japan—— Elements which make for the development of commercial activity in the Argentine. The commercial balance——Results of the commercial balance——Its prime importance in respect of the prosperity of the country—— It is this balance which compensates the issue of capital for the benefit of the foreign debt. The whole activity of the Argentine Republic is reflected in the statistics of its external commerce, which gives the true measure of its prosperity. All the vital forces of the country, its river traffic-ways, its railways, its ports, its business centres, all aid in the development of the commercial movement, which lives only by means of international exchange. We have thus reached one of the most important points of our study: that from which we can best judge the place held by the Argentine among the great markets of the world. Considered under its general aspect Argentine commerce may be summed up as follows: the exportation of raw materials and the importation of manufactured articles. We mention exportation first by design; for it is the exports, as we have already pointed out, that regulate the purchasing power of the country. There are no reserves in the Argentine which permit the country to preserve its power of purchase much in excess of the movement of capital produced by the sale of the harvest.