Sloe berries and juniper berries are used principally for flavoring gin. Substantial quantities of these berries grow wild throughout New England, but the cost of harvesting is so high that domestic manufacturers of gin depend on imports for most of their requirements. Exports, if any, are negligible. United States imports of sloe and juniper berries averaged about 500,000 pounds annually during the 1930's. They reached 1.1 million pounds in 1939, when berry dealers were accumulating inventories in anticipation of shipping difficulties. During the war imports virtually ceased. The unusually large imports of 1.4 million pounds in 1946 represented efforts of domestic berry dealers to replenish their stocks. Imports in 1947 declined to 691,000 pounds but were still considerably above the prewar average. Italy has always been the principal source of imports, supplying about 85 percent of the total, both before and since the war. The United Kingdom, Yugoslavia, Germany, and Hungary have been minor suppliers. Imports from the United Kingdom, which have not been resumed since the war, consisted mostly of sloe berries; those from Italy and the other European countries have been juniper berries. Par. 1722. Moss, seaweeds, and vegetable substances, 1/ crude or unmanufactured, which were free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1922, are free of duty also under the Tariff Act of 1930. Geneva agreement. The duty-free status of moss was bound in the 1/ Only those vegetable substances classified under par. 1722 which are not covered in other summaries under that paragraph are considered here. UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION MISCELLANEOUS CRUDE OR UNMANUFACTURED VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES (PAR. 1722) Trade Statistics Table 1.- Miscellaneous crude or unmanufactured vegetable substances: Includes only vegetable substances which are entitled to duty-free entry under par. 1722. Does not include, for example, crude drugs of vegetable origin, which are provided for in par. 1670, or any of the grasses and fibers which are provided for in per. 1684. Nor does it include any of the substances which are free of duty under par. 1722, for which separate summaries have been written (see text). 3/ Includes Aegean Islands in 1948. Includes Aegean Islands in 1937-43. Source: Official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. Note. Data on domestic production or exports are not available (see text). SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION MISCELLANEOUS CRUDE OR UNMANUFACTURED VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES Comment This summary covers moss, seaweeds, 1 and other duty-free vegetable substances crude or unmanufactured, which are not covered in separate summaries under paragraph 1722 2/ and are not specifically provided for elsewhere in the Tariff Act of 1930. Among the more important articles included in this summary are Irish or Caragheen moss, seaweeds, certain evergreens, 2/ and loofa sponges. Irish or Carragheen moss is a red, stringy seaweed found in abundant quantities off the coasts of Ireland, the United Kingdom, and France, and off the North Atlantic coasts of the United States and Canada. Formerly it was used chiefly in making blanc mange, but is now used almost exclusigely for the production of carrageenin, an extract used in chocolate milk, salad dressing, soda fountain sirups, cough sirups, cosmetics, paint, beer, toothpastes, hand lotions, and many pharmaceutical products. Other seaweeds of commercial importance are gelidium, dulse, and purple laver. Gelidium grows abundantly in the waters off the coasts of Japan and off the west coast of the United States, principally off California. Dulse is found in northern European waters and in the waters around the Canadian Maritime Provinces, especially in the Bay of Fundy. Laver is found off the coast of California and in Japanese waters. Gelidium is the source of agar-agar, 4 and dulse and purple laver are used chiefly for foods. 5/ The principal evergreens covered by this summary are ruscus, a small European evergreen shrub, and holly. They are used chiefly in the preparation of wreaths and ornaments. 6/ Loofa sponge is the fibrous portion of the fruit of the species Luffa, a menber of the gourd family. Only the cultivated variety yields a sufficient number of usable fruits to make production commercially practicable. The ripened fruits are soaked in water to disintegrate the outer covering. The remaining fibrous portion, which varies from 8 to 20 inches in length, constitutes the so-called sponge. The chief use of the loofa sponge is as a filter for removing oil, grease, and other foreign substances from water in certain types of marine steam engines. Statistics on total United States production of the articles covered by this summary are not available. Among the seaweeds collected in the United States Irish moss is one of the more important. The domestic harvest of Irish moss amounted to 196,000 pounds in 1939, but increased sharply during the war, totalling nearly 600,000 pounds in 1941. By 1946 the annual harvest had risen to about 1.5 million pounds and it is believed to have exceeded 2 million pounds in 1948. 1 For kelp see separate summary, par. 1705. 2/ The vegetable substances covered by par. 1722 and discussed in separate summaries are derris root and tuba or tube root, crude; sloe berries and juniper berries; cube' (timbo or barbasco) root, crude; lavender flowers, crude (dried); origanum (marjoram leaves) in bulk or in bales; and orris or iris root, crude. 3/ For Christmas trees, evergreen, dutiable under par. 1558, see separate summary. See separate summary on agar-agar, dutiable under par. 41. 5 See separate summary on moss and sea grass, eelgrass, and seaweed, dyed or manufactured, dutiable under par. 1540. See separate summary on natural grasses, leaves, and plants, bleached, or colored, and manufactures thereof, dutiable under par. 1518. 877032 O-50-19 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION MISCELLANEOUS CRUDE OR UNMANUFACTURED VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES (PAR. 1722) Before the war domestic gelidium was used by the only domestic producer of agar-agar, who supplied about 2 percent of total domestic consumption. The domestic harvest of gelidium is known to have increased greatly during the war when imports of agar-agar from Japan, the principal source, were suspended. Since the war, however, the domestic collection of gelidium has declined, and imports of agar-agar from Japan have been resumed but have not regained their prewar volume. Data on the domestic collection of other seaweeds are not available, but it is probable that the amounts harvested are small. No data are available on the domestic collection of evergreens, and loofa sponges have never been grown successfully in commercial quantities in the United States. As a result of the large war demand for loofa sponges, an attempt was made to cultivate loofa plants hear Lodi, California, in the spring of 1942. The experiment was a failure; the total yield did not exceed 40,000 sponges principally because of frost. Statistics are not available on exports of the articles covered by this summary. Exports are believed to be very small. United States imports of the articles covered by this summary averaged about $293,000 a year during 1937-39. They increased somewhat during the war, amounting to $337,000 in 1943. They reached a high of $861,000 in 1946, and declined to $418,000 in 1948. Total imports of mosses entered under paragraph 1722 (shown separately in table 1) averaged about $96,000 a year during 1937-39. France was the principal source, and it is believed that Irish moss accounted for more than 75 percent of the imports. In 1943, imports of mosses had a foreign value of $150,000, but in 1946 imports amounted to $550,000, Canada accounting for about 75 percent of the total. A sample analysis of invoices covering imports of mosses during 1946 indicates that nearly 60 percent of the total imports consisted of Irish or Carragheen moss. A variety of miscellaneous mosses accounted for the remainder. In 1948, imports amounted to $180,000. The decline in imports since 1946 has been due mainly to the large increase in the domestic harvest of Irish moss. Imports of the other vegetable substances covered by this summary had a foreign value of about $200,000 annually in the immediate prewar years 1937-39. Imports amounted to $187,000 in 1943 and they increased to $311,000 in 1946. They amounted to $237,000 in 1948. Sample analyses of invoices indicate that seaweeds from Japan accounted for a large part of the prewar imports, and that seaweeds from Mexico and loofa sponges from Cuba accounted for a large part of the imports in 1943. In 1946 imports consisted largely of evergreens from Italy and Canada, and seaweeds from Mexico. In 1948 Japan, the principal supplier in prewar years, again became a leading supplier of United States imports, being surpassed only by Mexico, the principal supplier since the early part of the war (see table 1). SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION MUZZLE-LOADING MUSKETS, SHOTGUNS, RIFLES, AND PARTS (PAR. 1723) Tariff Status Par. 1723. Muzzle-loading muskets, shotguns, rifles, and parts thereof, which were dutiable at 25 percent ad valorem under the Tariff Act of 1922, are free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1930. Trade Statistics Table 1.- Muzzle-loading muskets, shotguns, rifles, and parts: 2/ Preliminary. 1/ Includes 1, valued at $1,497, from Norway. Source: Note. Official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. Statistics on United States production are not available (see text); ports, if any, are negligible. Imports of parts are negligible. ex |