186 REPORT ON COOPERATION IN AMERICAN EXPORT TRADE,
BRITISH AND DUTCH GUIANA,
Special report of Consul George E. Chamberlain, Georgetown, British Guiana,
October 30, 1915.

British Guiana.—There are no cartels, syndicates, or combinations
of manufacturers in this country. In fact there is little manufacturing
 carried on in the district, and all the industries are owned and
operated by individuals or private firms.
The combinations foreign to this country doing business here are
the Singer Sewing Machine Co., West India Oil Con Texas Oil Co.,
United States Steel Products Co., Armour &amp; Co., Swift &amp; Co., Libby,
McNeil &amp; Libby, and Cudahy Packing Co., all American. .
The Singer Sewing Machine Co. has an office and salesrooms in
(Georgetown and bw | agencies in various parts of the colony. Their
business here is conducted in the usual manner employed by this concern
 in all parts of the world, selling chiefly at retail for cash and on
the installment plan. They fix their own prices and are independent
of all other concerns, and their only competitors are local importers
handling various makes of machines.
The West India Oil Co. has an office and warehouse located in
Georgetown under the management of an American, and one American
 clerk. They import direct from the United States and carry a
sufficient stock of oils of all kinds to meet demands. Their sales are
confined to dealers and large consumers, and prices are maintained
based upon the New York market prices plus shipping charges and
local expenses. The usual terms of credit are 30 days.
The Texas Oil Co. is represented by a local firm of general importers—Messrs.
 Sandbach, Parker &amp; ie carry ie sufficient
to meet all requirements. They conduct this business along the same
lines as the West India Oil Co. maintaining prices and selling to
dealers and large consumers.
The United States Steel Products Co. has no local representatives,
but sells to all importers who desire to purchase their products. A
traveling representative occasionally visits the local trade. Their
competitors are chiefly English houses.
Swift &amp; Co., Armour &amp; Co., Libby, McNeil &amp; Libby, and the
Cudahy Packing Co. are all represented by local commission merchants,
 selling to the general trade throughout the colony. Prices are
maintained and are the usual export prices f. 0. b. New York. Their
chief competitors are English houses—Crosse &amp; Blackwell and C. &amp; E.
Morton—and others who sell direct to the importers..
Thus far this market has not been used as a dumping ground by
American, English, or other foreign houses, only in the case of certain
 summer goods. At the end of the spring and summer seasons
local importers have made a practice of buying piece goods, millinery
goods, etc., in the London and New York markets which the exporters
 are glad to dispose of at reduced prices rather than carry them
over. This trade, however, is limited.
The United Kingdom and her colonies are favored in this market
by a British preferential tariff on many articles of import, the preierential
 rate on ad valorem goods being 12 per cent as against 15 per
cent from foreign countries. The tariff on goods subject to a specific
duty varies greatly, many of the articles having no preferential rate