OF THE

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

This volume contains official data covering the foreign trade of the United States during the calendar year 1941. Tables showing foreign trade information in summary form for the years 1921 through 1941 are also included.

The publication of annual statistics of foreign commerce was prescribed by the Act of Congress of February 10, 1820. Statistics of foreign trade before that time were reported in American State Papers. These early foreign trade figures were summarized and published by the Treasury Department in 1884. From 1820 to 1903 the Treasury Department collected, compiled, and published these data annually in Commerce and Navigation. Statistics of the foreign commerce of the United States have been published by the Department of Commerce since 1904, and since 1923 the compilation work has also been under its jurisdiction.

Foreign trade statistics are published monthly by the Bureau of the Census in the Monthly Summary of Foreign Commerce of the United States. This publication shows the trade in individual commodities for the current month and for the year to date and includes summary tables showing total exports and imports by countries, by Customs districts and by economic classes; exports and imports of gold and silver by countries and Customs districts; trade with noncontiguous territories, and other data. Other monthly publications of the Bureau of the Census include a mimeographed release entitled United States Foreign Trade, showing foreign trade data by economic classes and leading commodities and United States foreign trade with geographic areas and leading countries. In addition, a series of 182 monthly statements, showing in detail the trade in certain commodities by countries, was released until war regulations forbade the public dissemination of all foreign trade statistics, except the grand total value of imports and exports, effective with the reports for October 1941. The table of contents of this volume shows the general types and the arrangement of material. Publication of the data has been delayed by wartime security regulations.

The collection and compilation of 1941 foreign trade data was the responsibility of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce until May 1, 1941. On that date these functions were transferred to the Bureau of the Census; but, the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce retained responsibility for the interpretation and analysis of foreign trade statistics, and for providing a consultative service in foreign trade. In pursuance of these functions, the Trend of United States Foreign Trade, and other analytical studies of foreign trade, are prepared by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce.

The documents used as the source of import, export, and intransit statistics are the statistical copies of the import entries and warehouse withdrawals prepared by importers, or their brokers, and of export declarations sworn or certified to by shippers, or their authorized agents. These documents are filed with the United States Customs officials. Copies are forwarded by Collectors of Customs to the Bureau of the Census. Documents are coded in accordance with Schedule A (Statistical Classification of Imports into the United States), Schedule B (Statistical Classification of Domestic Commodities Exported from the United States), and Schedule F (Statistical Classification of Foreign Commodities Exported from the United States). Mechanical tabulation equipment is employed in assembling the data. Code numbers for the commodity classification, country of origin or destination, Customs district, quantity, value, and other information for each item listed on an import or export document are transferred to a punch card. Punch cards are tabulated monthly and the yearly totals are obtained by tabulating summary cards punched from the monthly totals. Over five million export and import documents were filed during 1941, and nearly nine million detail cards were punched.

Information is reported on a calendar year basis. Figures shown represent all transactions which took place during the calendar year, with the exception of a very small percentage of items reported too late for inclusion. Such items are included in the data for the following year.

The country designations used throughout these statistics are presented in Schedule C (Code Classification of Countries) (pp. XII and XIII). Trade figures for certain adjacent provinces, territories, and islands of small area are combined under a single country designation.

Tables showing the import and export trade of the United States with the countries of the world, by commodities, covering the

calendar years 1939 and 1940, appeared in the 1940 edition of Foreign Commerce and Navigation. Statistics for 1941 and 1942 will be shown in the 1942 issue. Information on trade with individual countries during 1941 is available on request prior to the publication of the 1942 Foreign Commerce and Navigation. The statistics in this volume include exports and imports of merchandise for the United States Customs Area (continental United States, Puerto Rico and the Territories of Alaska and Hawaii); merchandise exports and imports of the Virgin Islands of the United States; in-transit and transshipment trade; bunker coal and oil laden on vessels in the foreign trade; vessel entrances and clearances; trade in gold and silver for the United States Customs Area and the Virgin Islands combined; and a table showing specified products of American fisheries received at ports of the United States. Trade between the continental United States and its noncontiguous territories is not shown in this volume, but is reported in summary form each month in the Monthly Summary of Foreign Commerce of the United States. detailed figures for the year appear in the December issue of the Monthly Summary. For statistical purposes, the Philippine Islands and the Panama Canal Zone are treated as foreign countries.

Detailed statistics of imports of cotton cloth and cotton handkerchiefs, unbleached, bleached, printed, dyed, or colored, by yarn number and country of origin, with rates of duties, equivalent ad valorem rate and calculated duties, reported separately in Supplement No. 1 to Foreign Commerce and Navigation in previous years, have been incorporated in Table 1 in this volume.

The following sections are concerned with a discussion of coverage, compilation procedures, classification, and other information on the export and import statistics presented in this Pertinent data on the compilation and presentation of statistics of trade with noncontiguous territories, in-transit shipments, gold and silver imports and exports, entrances and clearances of vessels, Lend-Lease shipments, and other information on foreign commerce are also presented.

IMPORTS OF MERCHANDISE

COVERAGE

Merchandise import statistics shown in this volume include data on all commodities and merchandise reaching the United States Customs Area, with the following exceptions:

1. Merchandise not entering the United States Customs Area:

(a) Articles excluded from the United States by law as subversive, immoral, unsanitary, not legally marked, etc. Such articles are not permitted entry and are returned to the country of exportation or are transshipped to some other country.

(b) Foreign merchandise entering the Foreign Trade Zone in the United States to be stored or manipulated under the provisions of the Foreign Trade Zone Act. Merchandise entered into the United States from the Foreign Trade Zone is treated as an importation at time of entry. (c) Merchandise sent to public stores or a General Order warehouse, including cargo not entered in compliance with Customs regulations, merchandise unladen after the time limit set for the discharge of cargo, passengers' baggage for which duties have not been paid, baggage not claimed within a reasonable time, etc. In some cases, merchandise of this type may later be entered as an import under Cus toms regulations. At that time, the merchandise is included in the import statistics.

(d) Bunker fuel and provisions purchased abroad by American vessels, aircraft, or other vehicles.

2. Merchandise in transit through the United States:

(a) Foreign merchandise entering the United States en route from one foreign country to another, or from one part of a foreign country to another part of the same country, including merchandise being stored in the United States while en route to another foreign country. (See section entitled In-transit and Transshipment Trade.)

(b) Merchandise entering the United States en route between points in Canada or between points in Mexico, or merchandise reentering the United States after having V

traveled through Canada or Mexico en route between points in the United States.

3. Certain domestic merchandise returned from foreign countries:

(a) Articles sent out of the country temporarily, such as race horses, circuses, and automobiles for touring purposes, intended to be returned to the United States at time of exportation and not sold. Domestic merchandise sold abroad is, however, included in the import statistics, if returned.

(b) Merchandise sent abroad for repairs. The value of the repairs is included in the import statistics.

(c) Articles shipped abroad, not delivered to the consignee, and returned to the United States.

(d) Army and Navy supplies.

(e) Personal effects of domestic origin.

4. Gold, silver, and evidences of debt:

(a) Unfabricated gold and silver and gold and silver coins. (See Section entitled Gold and Silver.)

(b) Bonds, paper currency, and commercial papers.

5. Merchandise having small value, or no commercial value: (a) Single shipments by mail, valued at less than $100, and merchandise entered informally according to Customs regulations, having a value of less than $100.

(b) Articles consigned to diplomatic representatives of foreign countries in the United States. (c) Samples without commercial value.

(d) Ballast to be dumped.

(e) Articles brought into the United States temporarily and entered free under a six-months bond.

COMPILATION PROCEDURE

Entries are filed by the importer, or his agent, in advance of, or at the time the merchandise arrives in the country. All merchandise admitted to entry, with certain exceptions, must be accompanied by an invoice certified by a United States Consul. Subsequent examination of the merchandise by the appraiser may result in revisions in the quantity, value, commodity, or tariff classification of the merchandise. In some cases, the lapse of time between entry of the merchandise and final liquidation after appraisement makes impossible the carrying of such liquidation changes into the statistics.

Imports are classified, for statistical purposes, as entries for immediate consumption, entries into warehouse, and withdrawals from warehouse for consumption.

Entries for Immediate Consumption

Entries for immediate consumption include the following types of transactions:

1. Merchandise entered into consumption channels upon arrival.

2. Merchandise for which special appraisement entries are prepared after appraisement, such as merchandise damaged on voyage by fire, or marine casualty, or other cause, or recovered from wrecked or stranded vessels, household effects used abroad and personal effects not intended for sale, articles sent by persons in foreign countries as gifts to persons in the United States, tools of trade of a person arriving in the United States, personal effects of American citizens deceased abroad, and merchandise not having a known or declarable value.

3. Importations normally appearing on informal entries and not exceeding $100 in value, for which the Collector requires formal entry to safeguard the revenue, and certain import baggage transactions for which the Collector requests formal entry to protect the possible revenue involved or to insure production of necessary invoices.

4. Equipment and repair parts, or repairs made upon American vessels in foreign countries.

5. Commodities, such as wheat and petroleum products, entered directly into bonded manufacturing warehouses for further processing, to be subsequently withdrawn for exportation or, in the case of by-products of the manufacturing process, entered for domestic consumption. Note, however, that entries into warehouse include similar transactions for other types of commodities.

Entries Into Warehouse

Imported merchandise, except perishable goods and most explosives, may be entered into a bonded Customs storage warehouse. Except in rare instances, such entries are made for dutiable

commodities only. Entries into warehouse include the following types of transactions:

1. Imported merchandise on first entering a bonded Customs storage warehouse.

2. Imported ores and crude metals, such as copper, lead, and zinc, entered into warehouses bonded for smelting and refining. Warehouse Withdrawals for Consumption

Merchandise may be withdrawn from a bonded Customs storage warehouse for domestic consumption at any time within three years from the date of original importation, upon the payment of duties and accrued charges. The following types of transactions are included in merchandise withdrawn from warehouse:

1. Commodities withdrawn from bonded Customs storage warehouses for domestic consumption.

2. Commodities, such as copper, lead, and zinc, withdrawn from bonded smelting and refining warehouses for domestic consumption or for exportation.

3. Commodities, such as wheat and petroleum products, transferred from bonded storage warehouses to bonded manufacturing warehouses for further processing and subsequent withdrawal for exportation.

Imported merchandise is shown in this volume both as "general imports" and "imports for consumption." General imports are the total of the entries for immediate consumption and entries into warehouse, as described above, and therefore reflect the total arrivals of merchandise, whether such merchandise enters consumption channels immediately or is entered into warehouses under Customs custody. Imports for consumption are the total of the entries for immediate consumption and the withdrawals from warehouse for consumption, as described above, and therefore reflect the total of commodities entered into United States consumption channels. Since entries for immediate consumption are included in both general imports and imports for consumption, general imports will differ from imports for consumption, for a particular period, to the extent that entries into warehouse are more or less than warehouse withdrawals for consumption. Withdrawals from bonded storage warehouses, for exportation are not included in warehouse withdrawals for consumption, and therefore are not included in the statistics of imports for consumption. Such merchandise was, however, an entry into warehouse at the time of arrival in the country and was, therefore, included in the statistics of general imports. Thus, even though entries into warehouse for a particular period were to equal warehouse withdrawals for the same period, general imports would still be larger than imports for consumption, because withdrawals from bonded storage warehouse for exportation are not included in imports for consumption. Separate statistics on withdrawals from bonded storage warehouse for exportation are not shown in Foreign Commerce and Navigation, but are available on request. The statistics of exports of foreign merchandise, shown in Foreign Commerce and Navigation, include the exports of merchandise withdrawn from bonded storage warehouse for exportation, together with exports of foreign merchandise (principally dutyfree articles) which have been entered through Customs.

CLASSIFICATION OF COMMODITIES, COUNTRIES,
AND CUSTOMS DISTRICTS

Commodities are classified according to physical characteristics or use in 5,377 separate categories shown in Schedule A (Statistical Classification of Imports into the United States). These categories are summarized in 11 major commodity groups. Separate classifications are provided for each commodity designated by the Tariff Act of 1930 and by the reciprocal trade agreements in force at the time these statistics were compiled. New classifications are added when the necessity for additional commodity detail becomes apparent.

Revisions of commodity codes in Schedule A during 1941 were comparatively few and of a minor character. Sixty-two new commodity classifications were established and thirty-two commodity codes were deleted. Nearly all of the new commodity classes which were made necessary by the Argentine Trade Agreement, was the only trade agreement becoming effective in 1941. Totals for the 11 major commodity groups are shown in Table Selected subgroup totals reported in Table 1 represent combinations of consecutive commodity classifications within each group.

1.

Commodities are further classified into ten economic classes by the degree to which they have been processed and by origin, agricultural or nonagricultural (Table IX). These groupings are independent of the group and subgroup classifications of Schedule A.

Since 1937, imports have been credited to the country of origin; that is, the country in which the products were mined, grown, or manufactured. Products must be substantially changed

in condition, or enhanced materially in value by any process, in another country, in order to render such country the country of origin.

The Customs districts of the United States Customs Area are shown in Schedule D (Customs Districts and Ports of Entry) (p. XIV). Commodities imported by each Customs district are shown in Table 2, according to 1,201 classifications based on consolidations of related consecutive commodi ty classifications in Schedule A. Merchandise is shown as imported by the Customs district in which it enters consumption channels, which is not necessarily the district at which it arrives in the United States.

TRADE AGREEMENTS

Trade agreements have modified certain duties and other import restrictions, or have bound the continuance of the existing customs and excise treatment, by authority of the Act of June 12, 1934 (48 Stat. 943) (T.D. 47117). The provisions of these Trade Agreements are set forth in the following proclamations of the President:

Cuba, T.D. 47232, effective September 3, 1934. Supplementary
agreement T.D. 50050, effective December 23, 1939.
Belgium, T.D. 47600, effective May 1, 1935.
Haiti, T.D. 47667, effective June 3, 1935.
Sweden, T.D. 47785, effective August 5, 1935.
Canada, T.D. 48033, effective January 1, 1936. Replaced by
T.D. 49752, effective January 1, 1939. Supplementary agree-
ment T.D. 50056, effective January 1, 1940. Supplementary
agreement T.D. 50295, provisionally effective December 20,
1940. T.D. 50512 definitively effective August 14, 1941.
Brazil, T.D. 48034, effective January 1, 1936.
Netherlands, T.D. 48075, effective February 1, 1936.
Switzerland, T.D. 48093, effective February 15, 1936.
Honduras, T.D. 48131, effective March 2, 1936.
Colombia, T.D. 48258, effective May 20, 1936.
France, T.D. 48316, effective June 15, 1936.
Guatemala, T.D. 48317, effective June 15, 1936.
Nicaragua, T.D. 48511, effective October 1, 1936.
cal tariff concessions ceased to be in force
March 10, 1938. See T.D. 49401.)
Finland, T.D. 48554, effective November 2, 1936.
El Salvador, T.D. 48947, effective May 31, 1937.
Costa Rica, T.D. 49072, effective August 2, 1937.
Czecho-Slovakia, T.D. 49458, effective April 16, 1938.
pended April 22, 1939.

(Reciproeffective

Ecuador, T.D. 49710, effective October 23, 1938.
United Kingdom, T.D. 49753, effective January 1, 1939.
Turkey, T.D. 49838, effective May 5, 1939.
Venezuela, T.D. 50015, effective December 16, 1939.
Argentina, T.D. 50504, effective November 15, 1941.

VALUATION

Section 402 of the Tariff Act of 1930 requires, in general, that the value of imported merchandise shown on the import entry shall be the foreign value, or the export value, whichever is higher. This foreign value is converted into United States currency at the rate of exchange certified for Customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on the day the merchandise was shipped to the United States.

The foreign value of imported merchandise is the market value, or the price, at the time of exportation of such merchandise to the United States, at which such, or similar, merchandise is freely offered for sale for home consumption to all purchasers, in the usual wholesale quantities and in the ordinary course of trade, in the principal markets in the country from which exported. This value includes the cost of all usual containers and coverings, of whatever nature, except those specifically covered by a separate paragraph in the Tariff Act of 1930. The value of unusual containers, as determined by Customs, appears both in the value of the contents, and in the value of the commodity classification in which the container would be included if separately imported. In addition, the foreign value includes all other costs, charges, and expenses incidental to placing the merchandise in condition, packed ready for shipment to the United States.

If an export value, higher than the foreign market value described above, is established by Customs for merchandise intended for export to the United States, the higher export value is regarded as the import value of the merchandise.

If neither of the above values can be satisfactorily ascertained, then the import value is the value at which such, or similar, merchandise is offered for sale in the principal market of the United States, with allowances for duty, cost of transportation, insurance, commissions, etc.

If none of the above values can be ascertained, then the cost of production, determined in accordance with provisions of Section 402 (f) of the Tariff Act of 1930, is the import value.

The import value of certain articles of merchandise, such as coal-tar finished products and intermediate products, is the American selling price or usual wholesale selling price in the principal markets of the United States.

The value shown on entries sometimes filed by importers includes certain cost elements which should not have been included under the definitions above (ocean freight, marine insurance, consular fees, inland freight in foreign country from factory or principal market to port of exit). Such "nondutiable charges" are deducted from the total value shown before inclusion in the statistics.

From the foregoing it is apparent that the recorded import value may not be equivalent to the amount received in the foreign country as payment for the merchandise. For instance, import values do not include foreign inland freight charges from the principal market to the port of exit. Again, the import value of commodities grown or mined abroad by American corporations, at the principal market in the foreign country, may differ substantially from the amount paid to the foreign countries. The latter may consist only of the amount transferred to the foreign countries to cover local costs of production. For statistical purposes, fractions of a dollar are rounded to the nearest whole dollar.

UNITS OF QUANTITY

Units of quantity, as provided in Schedule A (Statistical Classification of Imports into the United States), for any imported commodity, are clearly indicated in this volume, with necessary additional explanations immediately above the total of quantity, or quantities, (for import classifications presented with two units of quantity), or adjacent to the commodity description of the merchandise involved. Fractions of a unit of quantity are rounded to the nearest whole unit.

The units of weight, measure, tonnage, etc., appearing in Schedule A for each import classification, are selected primarily to provide accurate and complete information on imported commodities for tariff purposes. When the units of quantity for commodities are not specified in the various paragraphs of the Tariff Act, the commercial units of measure are required in Schedule A.

In Schedule A there are a number of commodity classifications which require reporting in two specified units of meaThis is frequently required for correct tariff commodity classification and proper duty compilation. cases two units of measure are shown in order to provide an approximate indication of the quality of the imported article.

The weights shown in the import tables represent the net weight of goods exclusive of containers, unless otherwise stated. No quantities are reported for certain classes covering heterogeneous commodities not readily measured in any one unit. Shipping weights are not shown in this volume.

The definitions for various units of quantity are generally shown in the quantity column headings in Table I. Certain other units of quantity which are not so defined in Table I are: number of gallons to the barrel of petroleum products, 42 gallons; milligrams, 10,648 grains; squares of shingles, 4 bundles.

RATES OF DUTY ·

The estimated duties collected under the rates established by the Tariff Act of 1930, or as amended under Section 336 of that Act, or as modified by the proclaimed trade agreements, are reported in Table I of this volume. The rate of duty indicated in the box heading for each commodity applies to imports from all countries, with the following exceptions:

Germany: The reduced rates proclaimed in reciprocal trade agreements have not been applied to commodities imported from Germany since October 15, 1935, because of discriminatory treatment of imports into Germany from the United States. Products of Germany imported directly or indirectly are subject to tariff rates on all commodities, regardless of trade agreements. The tariff rate applicable to imports from Germany is shown in a footnote in each instance.

Cuba: By virtue of the Cuban Reciprocity Treaty of 1902 (Section 316 of the Tariff Act of 1930) imports of dutiable merchandise, which are the growth, produce, or manufacture of Cuba, are granted a 20 percent preferential reduction below the rates fixed in the Tariff Act of 1930, or by Section 336, or in reciprocal trade agreements. These rates are indicated in the country column as "Cuba (less 20 percent)." Products of Cuba, which are dutiable when imported from other countries, but are free of duty by virtue of the Cuban Reciprocity Treaty, are