Tacoma’s Import Surge Signals Shift in Pacific Trade
Harbormaster reports a massive 45 percent jump in imports for the first quarter of 1904, fueled by trade with the Orient.
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A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The report of Harbormaster J. B. Clift for the month of March shows a decided gain in both exports and imports over the same period for the year 1903. During the first three months of last year, the exports amounted to $5,359,106, while for this year during the same period they were $6,087,115, an increase of about 14 percent. The imports for the same period show a much greater increase, due principally to the increased trade with the Orient and to the fact that Tacoma is gradually taking this trade away from the southern cities. During the first quarter of 1903, the imports coming into the port of Tacoma amounted to only $2,581,481, whereas this year they reached the sum of $4,106,564, or an increase of nearly 45 percent.
“Tacoma is gradually taking this trade away from the southern cities.”
Tacoma’s ambition to become the primary gateway to Asia has been a century-long project; the expansion of the Port of Tacoma remains the central pillar of the local economy today. The competition mentioned against 'southern cities' reflects the ongoing struggle for logistical dominance in the Pacific Northwest.
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