UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION INDIA WATER BUFFALO HIDES AND SKINS, FOR USE IN RAWHIDE ARTICLES Table 1.- India water buffalo hides and skins for use in rawhide were reported separately for the first time in 1948, amounted to 15,724 skins valued at $79,583. 3/ Included with statistics for India. Source: Official statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Note.- Buffalo hides and skins are not produced commercially in the United States. SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION INDIA WATER BUFFALO HIDES AND SKINS, FOR USE IN RAWHIDE ARTICLES (PAR. 1691) Comment The Tariff Act of 1930 divides buffalo hides and skins into two groups, based primarily on intended use: (1) Buffalo hides and skins of all kinds imported for tanning into leather, dutiable under paragraph 1530(a) (see separate summary under par. 1530), and (2) India water buffalo hides and skins imported to be used in the manufacture of rawhide articles, duty-free under paragraph 1691. Only the latter category is covered in this summary. Before World War II, the United States imports of dutiable and free buffalo hides and skins were nearly equal in quantity, but the duty-free imports (buffalo hides for use in rawhide articles) declined sharply during the war and since then they have remained much smaller than those imported for making leather. The buffalo hides and skins covered by this summary are used entirely in making a variety of rawhide articles for industrial purposes, the most important articles being loom pickers, gears, hammers, mallets, and mauls. In making these articles buffalo hides are preferred but heavy cattle hides are substituted when adequate supplies of buffalo hides are not available. Buffalo hides and skins are not produced commercially in the United States. United States imports of buffalo hides and skins for use in rawhide articles amounted to 101,000 hides or skins, valued at $386,000, in 1937, and to 73,000, valued at $233,000, in 1939 (see table 1). Imports declined to negligible quantities during the war when most of the producing countries were occupied by the Japanese. Since 1945, annual imports have ranged from 22,000 hides, valued at $139,000, in 1946, to 56,000 hides, valued at $717,000, in 1948. The variations in the unit foreign values of imports from the different sources is attributable largely to differences in quality and size. In 1937-39, British Malaya was the principal source of the imports, followed in order by India, the Netherlends, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands Indies and China. The buffalo hides and skins imported from the Netherlands and from. the United Kingdom originate in the Far East. Since 1945, China, Siam, India and Burma have been the most important sources of the imports. Over 85 percent of the buffalo hides and skins imported into the United States for use in rawhide articles are dry; the remainder are wet or green. Practically all the imports of wet hides and skins come from the Philippine Republic, India, and Siam. SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION GRINDSTONES, INCLUDING PULPSTONES Tariff Status Par. 1692. Grindstones, which were dutiable at $1.75 per long ton under the Tariff Act of 1922, are free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1930. Their dutyfree status was bound originally in the trade agreement with the United Kingdom, effective January 1939, and later in the Geneva Agreement. Trade Statistics Table 1.- Grindstones: United States production, exports, and imports Includes pulpstones (see text). 2 Principally to Canada, Cuba, Mexico, and Newfoundland. 3 Principally from the United Kingdom. Preliminary, except for production. 5/ Not available. Source: Production, official statistics of the U. S. Bureau of Mines; exports and imports, official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION GRINDSTONES, INCLUDING PULPSTONES Comment This summary covers grindstones, used in a variety of grinding and sharpening operations, and pulpstones, used for grinding wood in making pulp and paper. These stones are disks which may be cut from many kinds of stone 1, although they are usually of quarried sandstone. Grindstones range in size from less than one foot in diameter and one pound in weight to seven feet in diameter and four tons in weight. In general the smaller stones are made of the finer grained rock and are used for hand grinding, whereas the medium and large sizes are made of coarser grained rock and are used for machine grinding. Pulpstones are usually 54 inches in diameter and have a 54-inch face (thickness). Pulpstones are produced in West Virginia and Washington and other grindstones in Ohio and West Virginia. During the 1920's domestic production of grindstones, including pulpstones, averaged approximately 36,000 short tons, valued at 1.5 million dollars, annually. Since then production has declined materially, and during the years immediately preceding World War II it averaged about 10,000 tons, valued at $413,000, annually. The decline was attributed to the increasing use of artificial abrasives. Although the demand for most types of abrasives increased substantially during and since the war, domestic production of grindstones and pulpstones increased only slightly. During these years, annual output averaged about 12,000 tons, valued at $491,000. The United States has long been on an export basis with respect to grindstones and pulpstones, and exports have gone to more than 50 countries. In the 1920's exports of these products averaged 5,000 short tons, valued at $500,000, annually. Most of the exports consisted of small grindstones for hand grinding, such as are used on farms and in small shops. During the 1930's exports declined steadily and in 1939 they amounted to about 2,500 tons, valued at approximately $175,000; the decline in exports, however, was proportionately less than the decline in domestic sales, so that the amount exported was greater than in the 1920's, amounting in 1939 to 23 percent of the tonnage and 40 percent of the value of production. During and since World War II exports of grindstones and pulpstones have averaged about 2,600 tons, valued at $239,000, annually. Canada, Cuba, Mexico, and Newfoundland have been the principal foreign markets. United States imports of these products, principally from the United Kingdom, declined from an annual average of about 2,000 short tons, valued at $96,000 during the 1920's to less than 1,000 tons, valued at $27,000 during the 1930's. During World War II imports declined further and in 1945 amounted to 250 tons, valued at $9,000. Since the war, imports have increased but they are still below the prewar level. In 1948 imports amounted to 307 tons, valued at $20,000. Imports in recent years have been largely pulpstones from the United Kingdom. Emery wheels and other wheels of artificial abrasive are included in the summary on abrasive manufactures, paragraph 1514. |