SHEET METAL STAMPINGS.

SUMMARY.

This survey covers all classes of articles made of sheet or plate metal by pressing, stamping, drawing, etc., and having a distinctve shape or form clearly indicative of the purpose for which they are intended. Many of these products are accessory parts, more or less finished, used in the manufacture of assembled articles, particularly machinery. Among many articles included are kitchen utensilsexcept enameled or glazed and aluminum (hollow ware)-metal novelties, and a wide range of stamped metal machinery parts.

The manufacture of stamped metal goods has made much progress in recent years, but on account of the diversity of products no statistics are available covering output, imports, and exports. It is known, however, that imports and exports are very limited and that the domestic production is large and supplies nearly the entire home demand.

Sheet-metal stampings are machine-made products, semi-automatic machinery being used in the industry. The operation of the machines used in this branch of manufacture requires little skill but considerable diligence. The raw material employed consists of sheets or plates made of steel, copper, brass, aluminum, and other metals.

The cost of the raw material constitutes an important item in the expense of manufacture. Labor cost is also a considerable item. It has been claimed by American manufacturers that the higher scale of wages existing in the United States may operate in the future as a handicap to the domestic producer in his competition with the foreign industry. The use of machinery, however, has advanced further in the United States than in other countries and the higher rates of wages are in part at least offset by greater output per worker employed. With the introduction of better equipment abroad it is possible that the lower wage rates prevailing in the foreign countries will favor the foreign manufacturer. At present, however, the domestic producer is not seriously threatened by any foreign rivalry. Under the law of 1913 sheet metal stampings come within the scope of paragraph 167 rather than within that of paragraph 110. The stamped shapes referred to in the latter are those not advanced in value or condition by any process or operation subsequent to that of stamping, whereas the sheet metal stampings covered in the present survey are those which have taken on distinctive shapes and forms which indicate clearly the purpose for which they are designed. In other words, they are specialized products as compared with the more generalized articles included in paragraph 110.

GENERAL INFORMATION.

PARAGRAPH 167, ACT OF 1913.

Articles or wares not specially provided for in this section; * * * if composed wholly or in chief value of iron, steel, lead, copper, brass, nickel, pewter, zinc, aluminum, or other metal, but not plated with gold or silver, and whether partly or wholly manufactured, 20 per cent ad valorem.

DESCRIPTION.

This survey covers all classes of articles made from sheet and plate metal by cold pressing, stamping, drawing, etc., which are not specifically mentioned in the tariff act of 1913, or covered more specifically in other surveys prepared on this schedule. A great many of these products are accessory parts, more or less finished, which are used in the manufacture of assembled articles, especially machinery. A few of these such as tinware and certain novelties are ready for consumption without further manufacture. Among the many articles included may be mentioned kitchen utensils, except enameled or glazed and aluminum hollow-ware; metal novelties; a wide range of stamped metal machinery parts and accessories, mining screens, and miscellaneous structural material, such as cornices, spouts, etc. Tin cans and other containers are not included in this survey since they are generally made in separate establishments which are mostly located at or near establishments engaged in canning and preserving. Aluminum hollow-ware, jewelry, manufactures of gold and silver, sterling and plated silverware, manufactures of nickel silver, and all manufactures of sheet brass, copper, and aluminum, are covered in other surveys. Watch and clock cases, gas and electric fixtures and supplies, lamps and reflectors, including those used in the automobile industry, metal buttons, and bottle caps have also been discussed separately in other surveys.

In general it may be said that stamped metal goods are substitutes for cast and machined parts. Considerable advance has been made in late years in the design of such parts accompanied by a saving in weight without loss of strength by proper design of individual sections, some of which may be stiffened by ribs or corrugations.

DOMESTIC PRODUCTION.

The manufacture of stamped metal goods has made marked progress in recent years. On account of diversity of the product, it is practically impossible to present representative figures covering the entire industry. According to the census of manufactures, the value of the articles classed as "copper, tin, and sheet-iron products" increased from $78,359,000 in 1899 to $241,943,000 in 1914. It is safe to assume that the increase in value in the last five years is considerably in excess of that attained during the preceding 10 or even 15 years. One manufacturer has stated that his business increased from $1,642,311 in 1913 to $5,399,091 in 1919. It should be said, however, in this connection that the great increase during this period was partly an increase in value rather than an augmentation in the volume of trade.

Raw materials.-The raw materials for the manufacture of stamped metal goods are sheets or plates made of steel, copper, brass, bronze, zinc, or aluminum. These sheets may or may not be coated with tin or zinc (galvanized). As a rule articles which are covered with zinc (galvanized) are at first made up from block sheets and then dipped in the galvanizing bath. Most tinware is fashioned from tin plate, but in the case of cream separators and certain classes of milk cans, etc., the finished article is dipped in molten tin.

Raw material constitutes an important item in the cost of sheetmetal stampings, but in general this material is abundant and cheap in the United States, even where import duties are placed upon the articles coming from foreign countries.

Equipment. The equipment used directly in the manufacture of stamped metal goods consists chiefly of heavy presses fitted with replaceable dies suited to the special product which is to be made. All stamping machines, presses, and other machinery important in the industry are of American manufacture and can be obtained as cheaply in the United States as elsewhere. The dies are generally made by the manufacturers of stamped sheet-metal goods, but sometimes they are supplied by outside firms who make them on special order.

Methods of production. The production of stamped metal goods is largely a machine operation. The machinery used is what would be classed as semiautomatie, the output depending in large measure upon the diligence of the workers, who must place the blanks between the die and remove the pressed product. The labor is not highly skilled, but a certain dexterity and some experience are required from operators. Skilled mechanics must be employed to keep the machinery in good operating condition. Female labor is employed to a limited extent, but most of the labor is male. For simple designs a shallow drawing of sheet metal may often be cut and formed in a single operation, but on more complicated parts, especially those made from thick sheets or plates, a blank from the sheet must be stamped and then formed in a series of separate dies until the finished shape is obtained. The amount of deformation to which the metal can be subjected in any one operation depends largely upon the type of metal employed. Copper, for example, can be drawn to a greater length in a single operation without cracking than a piece of sheet steel. The operation also tends to harden the metal so that annealing is frequently necessary after one or two drawings.

Organization. The number of firms manufacturing stamped metal goods is large. Many firms are small, but the bulk of the country's output comes from establishments of moderately large size. Production is, as a rule, highly specialized, but a few firms operate steelworks and rolling mills in connection with the manufacture of stamped metal parts. There are other concerns which further fabricate the stamped metal as it comes from the machines, assembling the parts by riveting and soldering, etc. Buffing and polishing are frequently conducted at the same plant and occasionally parts will be electroplated, painted, and otherwise treated in the same establishment.

Many establishments conduct a purely contractual business, manufacturing the articles only on special order. Most of the accessories, which constitute the bulk of the business, are manufactured by concerns that supply only one or two consumers in each

class of article. Few of the articles are sufficiently standardized for general consumption so that they can be sold from the warehouse. Many firms supply a variety of products to different classes of manufacturers. They are therefore not necessarily affected vitally by depression in any one branch of their business."

The amount of capital involved can not be accurately estimated. The census figures for 1914, which do not follow the classification adopted in this survey, show that over $244,500,000 was invested in the manufacture of copper, tin, and sheet-iron products. This capitalization was distributed among some five thousand establishments employing 80,000 wage earners.

Geographical distribution. The manufacture of sheet-metal stampings is scattered throughout the country. The bulk of the country's output, however, comes from the North Atlantic States, especially New York and New Jersey, and in the territory tributary to automobile factories in Michigan and Ohio.

Domestic production and consumption.-No adequate statistics are available showing the domestic output of sheet-metal stampings. As imports and exports are very small and the country's output unquestionably large, the domestic production is undoubtedly sufficient for home requirements.

Domestic exports.-There are no figures obtainable with respect to exports. Some manufacturers, however, state that there have been some exports to England, France, and South America.

FOREIGN PRODUCTION.

Sheet-metal stampings are known to be manufactured in Germany, Austria, and France, but no statistics are at present obtainable.

IMPORTS.

There are no statistics with reference to the importation of sheetmetal stampings. Manufacturers state that limited amounts of sheet-metal stampings are imported.

PRICES.

The prices of sheet-metal stampings vary greatly with the uses and general character of the articles made. As in the case of other products, prices have risen in recent years. Replying to a questionnaire sent out by the United States Tariff Commission, manufacturers estimated that the prices of sheet-metal stampings have increased on the average about 75 per cent since 1913.

TARIFF HISTORY.

Sheet-metal stampings, as discussed in this survey, have long been dutiable as manufactures, articles, or wares of metal not specially provided for, whether partly or wholly manufactured. The duties on these articles have been ad valorem and since 1883 ranged from 35 to 45 per cent until the passage of the act of 1913, when the rate of duty was reduced to 20 per cent.

COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS.

Domestic manufacturers have suffered little from foreign competition. It is claimed, however, by some producers that foreign competition is possible and may become active on account of the lower wage rates prevailing in other countries and of the present foreign exchange situation. American manufacturers have made use of automatic or semiautomatic machinery to such an extent that their labor costs have been greatly reduced. While similar machinery is employed abroad, the machine process has not advanced to the same extent in other countries as in the United States. With the introduction of more up-to-date appliances in foreign countries, the lower wage rates abroad may favor the foreign manufacturer. The use of machinery, however, generally implies diminished labor cost; hence the higher wage rates would not affect total costs to the same extent as in the case where labor cost constitutes a much larger percentage of the total manufacturing expense.

TARIFF CONSIDERATIONS.

There is at present no serious problem with reference to competitive conditions.

The classification of sheet metal stampings under the act of 1913 is somewhat vague. Paragraph 110 provides that pressed, sheared, or stamped shapes, not advanced in value or condition by any process or operation subsequent to the process of stamping, if made by the Bessemer, Siemans-Martin, open-hearth, or similar processes, and not containing any alloys, are dutiable at 8 per cent ad valorem; and when made by the crucible, electric, or cementation process, either with or without alloys, and finished by rolling, hammering, or otherwise, are dutiable at 15 per cent. Sheet metal stampings, however, of the kind considered in this survey, are advanced in value or condition beyond the process of stamping and therefore come within the scope of paragraph 167. This latter paragraph provides that articles or wares not specially provided for, if composed wholly or in chief value of iron, steel, or other metal, but not plated with gold or silver, and whether partly or wholly manufactured, are dutiable at 20 per cent ad valorem. The sheet-metal stampings coming within the scope of paragraph 110 are shapes which are to be later used in the manufacture of some highly finished article and are in a crude state of development. The articles covered in this survey are those which have progressed to a definite stage in the process of manufacture, having taken on new, perfect, and distinctive forms indicative of the purpose for which they are designed and for which they can only be used. In the case of some stamped articles the wording in paragraph 110 can readily lead to an improper classification. It is advisable to word paragraph 110 so that any intent of the law to include only articles of a general or crude nature will be more clearly stated.