Summaries of Tariff Information: Papers and books

General.-The Summaries of Tariff Information contained herein have been prepared in response to a resolution of the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives, adopted July 25, 1947, which directs the Commission to "rewrite or otherwise bring up to date *** the commodity summaries of tariff information." The complete project includes about 2,500 summaries-1,800 on dutiable commodities provided for in the Tariff Act of 1930 and 700 on commodities in the Free List of that act (some of which are subject to import-excise taxes or processing taxes). The summaries will be grouped according to schedules of the tariff act and arranged by tariff paragraphs.

The summaries have been made as brief as possible in order to keep the whole project within practicable bounds. They contain for the various commodities statistical data on United States production, imports, and exports, tariff rates, and other information pertinent to an understanding of the conditions of competition between imports and domestic production.

Rates of duty.-Each summary contains a table showing the rates of duty provided in the acts of 1922 and 1930, the rate (or rates) in effect on January 1, 1945 (the 1945 rates were in effect in 1947 at the time of the Geneva negotiations), and the 1948 rate (or rates). If the 1948 rate is one of the rates included in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, signed at Geneva on October 30, 1947, this fact is indicated by a footnote. Where an existing rate was reduced in the Geneva agreement and the reduction was made effective on January 1, 1948, the footnote states "Geneva, 1948"; where the existing rate was bound and the binding was made effective on January 1, 1948, the footnote states "Bound, Geneva, 1948"; where a reduction or a binding was provided for in the Geneva agreement but was not made effective on January 1, 1948, pursuant to article 27 of the agreement, the footnotes indicate that fact. (Article 27 permits a contracting party to the Geneva agreement to withhold concessions "initially negotiated" with a government which has not made its schedule of tariff concessions effective.) Where a reduction or a binding was made effective subsequent to January 1, 1948, the footnotes indicate that fact (and give the effective date).

Rates of duty on products of Cuba are shown separately in the summaries only for items of which Cuba is an important source of imports. Under the Commercial Convention with Cuba, effective December 1903, and trade agreements with Cuba prior to the Geneva trade agreement, Cuban products subject to duty when imported into the United States were generally dutiable at preferential rates 20 percent lower than those applying to products of other foreign countries (on some articles a greater preference was provided in trade agreements). Under the Geneva trade agreement certain products of Cuba continue to receive preferential tariff treat ment but on other products the preferences have been eliminated. Where Cuban rates are shown in the table on "Changes in United States rates of duty" (table 1 of the summaries), the rates given in the "Act of 1922" and "Act of 1930" columns are those resulting from the preference established under the Commercial Convention. Cuban rates shown in the "1945" and "1948" columns are footnoted to indicate the trade agreement under which they were established.

Reduced rates of duty effective pursuant to trade agreements apply to imports from all countries except that during the period October 15, 1935 to May 30, 1942 they did not apply to products of Germany and during the period August 1, 1936 to February 1, 1938 they did not apply to products of Australia. Imports from these countries during the periods indicated were dutiable at the preagreement rates. As stated in the preceding paragraph, most products imported from Cuba receive preferential tariff treatment. Imports from the Republic of the Philippines are free of duty.

For commodities subject to specific rates of duty, i.e., rates expressed in .cents or dollars per pound, ton, or other unit of quantity, the summaries show the ad valorem equivalent of the rates (the ratio of the duty to the value of the imports). Similarly, for commodities subject to compound duties, i.e., those which are a combination of specific and ad valorem rates, the summaries show the ad valorem equivalent of the combined rates. Ad valorem equivalents of specific and compound rates of duty may differ in different years, even if there has been no change in the rates themselves, because of changes in the prices of imported goods. In order to show the effect of these changes in prices, ad valorem equivalents of a given rate of duty have been computed on the basis both of the average unit value of imports in a prewar year (usually 1939) and of the average unit value of imports in a postwar year (usually 1946). In order to show the effect on the ad valorem equivalents of changes in rates of duty made in the Geneva agreement, the ad valorem equivalent of the 1945 rate (in effect before the Geneva negotiations) is compared with the ad valorem equivalent of the rate provided for in the Geneva agreement,1 both equivalents being computed on the basis of the average unit value of imports for a single year (either 1939 or 1946).

Aside from changes in prices, the unit value of imports of a product from one country may differ from the unit value of imports of a similar product from another country because of differences in such factors as grade, quality, size, and type. Moreover, the unit values of individual shipments from the same country may differ because of these factors. Because of these differences the average unit values of imports (referred to in the preceding paragraph), which are used in computing ad valorem equivalents of the rates of duty, occasionally represent weighted averages of widely different unit values. Where the unit values included in such an average do vary widely, attention is called to this fact as well as to cases where the average unit value of imports is widely different from that of domestic production.

Statistics of United States production, exports, and imports.--The summaries give statistics of United States production, exports, and imports for several prewar years (the number depending on what seems to be appropriate for the particular commodity), for one war year (usually 1943), and for two postwar years (1946 and 1947). Where statistics of production or exports of a particular commodity are not available, estimated figures, or some other indication of the importance of production and exports as compared with imports, are given when possible. Exports under lend-lease, imports free for Government use, imports free as an act of international courtesy (these imports usually consist of goods for the use in the United States of agencies of foreign governments), or imports free under special provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 are included in the totals for exports or imports. If such exports or imports accounted for a significant part of the trade, this fact is indicated in footnotes to the tables or otherwise. Imports are shown by countries where there are two or more suppliers of some importance.

Virtually all import values given in the summaries are foreign values,i..., values in the country of exportation, and do not include duties, transportation costs, or certain other charges incidental to the delivery of the commodity to the United States. These values, therefore, are not strictly comparable with the values shown for United States production, which are usually the sales value of the product at the place of production, or with the values for exports, which represent the actual selling price including inland freight and other charges to the port of exportation. These differences in the bases of the figures should be kept in mind when the value of imports is compared with the value of domestic production or exports.

1 In the great majority of cases the rate provided for in the Geneva agreement became effective on January 1, 1948; some of the rates, however, were not made effective on that date, as indicated previously.

2/ A few products are dutiable on the basis of "American selling price," i.9., the price in the United States of the competitive domestic article. These cases are noted in the respective summaries.

1/ Rate of 1/4 cent per pound is equal to $5 per short ton; pound, to $4 per short ton.

2/ Trade agreement with Canads, effective January 1939. 3/ Bound, Geneva, 1948.

rate of 1/5 cent per

Ad vlerem equivalents of the duty.--The ad valorem equivalent of the 1945 and 1948 rate of duty on uncoated bock and printing paper (1/5 cent per pound plus 5 percent ad valorem) is 12.4 percent based on average import values in 1939 and 10.0 percent based on average import values in 1946. These equivalents are based on the value of imports from all countries including Germany. It should be noted that imports from Germany in 1939 were dutiable at the preagreement rates, for the agreement rates were not applicable to imports from that country during the pericd from October 15, 1935 to May 30, 1942.

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