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SPECIAL REPORTS FOR FEDERAL TRADE CoMMISSILER

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is an organization which does the buying of all supp i, for its
members, about 400 in number, scattered over all parts ee 4
in kitchen and household hardware lines and in dry goo i [i#
is a buying agency solely. At the beginning of each year each =
ber reports in a general way what his requirements will be in each
main line that he carries, and the société then proceeds to get prices,
terms, etc., on the basis of thé large quantities needed by the membership
 as a whole. In this method of cooperative buying the
lowest possible prices are secured, because of the large quantities
ordered, and furthermore the buying is in charge of experts whose
sole business it is to examine catalogs, samples, contracts offered, etc.,
with the result that only goods of best value are received by the
individual members. Salesmen and others who want to reach 400
dealers in the lines named merely call at the Paris office of the
société with their samples and their propositions, for it would be
unnecessary and, in fact, futile for them to visit the members individually.
 In all but the buying of stock the members are entirely
independent of each other and of the société, which, as stated above,
is exclusively for buying, and n.akes no attempt to regulate sale prices
or divide territories.” t

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Prixcrear OesTacLes To AMERICAN TRADE IN FRANCE,

While the comptoirs and other trade combinations now existing in
France have more or less influence upon the competition which dealors
 in foreign-made goods have to meet in this country, yet they
are not the greatest obstacle in the way of extending the sale of
American products in France.
Apart from high transportation charges, due to the great distances
over which goods must frequently be hauled in America to the
shipping point and the long sea voyage, the principal obstacle to the
introduction of American goods into France has been, and still is,
the fact that only on a restricted number of articles our imports
obtain the benefit of the minimum tariff rate which is accorded to
all our competitors in Europe. On this account American goods
generally have to pay an extra duty rate which ranges all the way
from 25 per cent to 700 per cent more than on European-made
articles. fn a great many cases this extra duty factor absolutely
prohibits the importation of the American product.
To the above obstacles can also be added the difficulty of obtaining
quick delivery from the United States, and the failure of American
business men, despite the constantly reiterated advice of American
consular officers and chambers of commerce abroad, to conform to
local conditions and terms of sale and delivery.
For a description of the activities of the Government of France
which are designed to foster the foreign trade of its manufacturers,
reference is made to the Department of Commerce’s Special Agents
Series No. 98, Commercial organizations in France, pages 57 et seq.

’
Special report of Consul General A. Gaulin, Marseille district, France, November
 15, 1915.
The existing conditions are extremely unfavorable for exhaustive
inquiries on this subject. The information supplied herewith is

Report of scer—

~»y “0 American commercial attaché at Pa