UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION LIFEBOATS AND LIFE-SAVING APPARATUS FOR INSTITUTIONS ESTABLISHED (PAR. 1711) Comment This summary covers lifeboats and life-saving apparatus such as belts, buoys, gas masks, pulmotors, and line-throwing devices, when these articles are imported by regularly established societies and institutions which promote the saving of human lives. When such articles are imported for distribution through ordinary commercial channels they are dutiable, and are covered by summaries under mumerous other paragraphs of the tariff act. Life All kinds of life-saving equipment are produced in the United States in substantial quantities. Statistics are not available showing the total amount of such equipment produced in this country, nor of domestically produced equipment sold to institutions which promote life saving here or abroad. boats, one of the most important items, are produced by some 16 concerns located in the North Atlantic and Middle Western States. The value of lifeboats produced in 1939, the last year for which statistics are available, was $400,000. During the war the production probably increased very substantially. United States imports of the articles covered by this summary have been small and sporadic (see table 1). From 1937 to 1948 inclusive, imports were reported only for 1939, 1945, and 1946. In 1939 Belgium was the principal foreign supplier, while in 1945 and 1946 Curacao and Italy, respectively, supplied virtually all the imports. SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION LITHOGRAPHIC STONES, NOT ENGRAVED Tariff Status Par. 1712. Lithographic stones, not engraved, which were free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1922, are free of duty also under the Tariff Act of 1930. Comment This summary covers lithographic stones, not engraved, which are slabs of finegrained limestone used for graphic reproduction. Engraved lithographic stones are dutiable under paragraph 341 (see separate summary). Lithographic stones are used in slabs three to four inches thick, and ranging in area from 6 by 8 inches to 44 by 62 inches. A good stone must be sufficiently porous to absorb the greasy compound which holds the ink, and soft enough to work readily under the engraver's tool. It must be uniform in texture throughout. The surface of a lithographic stone has to be very smooth and flat before the design is placed upon it. This smoothing is accomplished by grinding the face with sand and then polishing it with pumice stone and emery. The same process is used for erasing a design so that the stone can be used again. Lithographic stones have been almost entirely superseded by zinc, aluminum, and copper plates for ordinary reproductions, but some are still used in making maps and for the printing of decalcomania papers for decorating pottery. During World War I, Kentucky furnished a small amount of lithographic stone, but since that time no United States production has been reported by the Bureau of Mines. United States imports of lithographic stones, not engraved, which averaged about $100,000 annually before World War I, declined steadily thereafter, and were less than $1,000 per year after 1930. In only three years since 1939 have there been any imports; $162 in 1940, $427 in 1945, and $200 in 1948. Before 1933 practically all imports came from Germany; since then Canada has been almost the sole supplier. United States exports of lithographic stones, not engraved, are not separately reported but probably have always been nil. LOADSTONES Tariff Status Par. 1713. Loadstones, which were free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1922, are free of duty also under the Tariff Act of 1930. Comment This summary covers loadstones (more often written lodestones), which are a variety of magnetite that possesses polarity and acts as a natural magnet in attracting iron. Ordinary magnetite, which is attracted by a magnet but does not itself attract iron, is not included in this summary. 1/ Loadstones are primarily of historical interest as the original material for the magnetic compass. They enter chiefly into mineral collections and museums, and are used for research in magnetism. Loadstones are obtained in the United States mainly at Magnet Cove, Arkansas, but they are found also in California and Washington. No statistics of production are available. The only imports of loadstones since 1921 have been 121 pounds, valued at $8, from Japan, in 1937. United States exports of loadstones are not separately reported, but they are believed to be negligible. See separate summary under par. 1700 on iron ore including magnetite. |