UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION OTTER TRAWL NETS, OR FINISHED SECTIONS Comment The otter trawl net is essentially a large, flattened conical bag which is towed along the bottom of the sea by fishing vessels. The smaller nets are usually made from cotton twine 1/ and the larger ones usually from manila (abaca) twine. This summary covers only nets or finished sections of nets for use in otter-trawl fishing, if composed wholly or in chief value of manila (abaca). Otter trawl nets of manila are made by lacing together several different sections of netting, known as wing sections, back section, belly section, extension section, and cod end. The completed net has a spread of from 40 to 80 feet at the mouth, averages about 130 feet in length and, if spread flat, the larger nets would cover an area of approximately one-quarter acre. The lightest twine in the net is 3/16-inch in diameter and the heaviest 1/4-inch in diameter. In the cod end the mesh is usually double and of a superior quality of cord. The mesh size in the wing and back sections is 4 inches and tapers to 2 inches in the cod end. Rope used in the strapping and reinforcing is from 7/8-inch to 1-3/4 inches in diameter. Two large boards (otter boards), one of which is attached to the wing sections at each side of the mouth, operate to hold the net mouth open as the net is drawn forward under water. Otter trawl nets of manila are used in the United States principally in taking ground, or bottom, fish in the New England fisheries. About 20 percent of the total domestic catch of fish is usually taken by otter trawl nets. United States production of otter trawl nets and netting of manila is not separately recorded but it is understood to have been small. There probably have been no domestic exports. United States imports of manila otter trawl nets and sections thereof in the years 1937-39 averaged about 939,000 pounds per year, valued at $186,000 (foreign value). Imports were very small during World War II because the manufacture of otter trawl nets of manila was largely discontinued on account of a lack of manila fiber from the Philippine Republic. 2 During this period sisal twines and rope were substituted for manila fiber in the manufacture of otter trawl nets. Imports of the sisal products are dutiable as "manufactures of vegetable fiber, not specially provided for" under paragraph 1023. Since the end of the war imports of manila otter trawl nets have shown a sharp upward trend and in 1948 amounted to 640,000 pounds, valued at $366,000 (see table 1). The United Kingdom and Japan have been the chief sources of the postwar imports of otter trawl nets. The large increase in the value of imports in 1948 compared with prewar years is attributable to the higher average unit foreign value for inported otter trawl nets of 57 cents per pound in 1948 compared with 18 cents in 1939. 1/ The cotton nets, used principally for shrimp fishing, are dutiable under paragraph 923; see separate summary on Fish nets and nettings of cotton. 2 See separate summary on Manila (abaca) fiber, duty free under par. 1584. SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION NEWSPAPERS AND UNBOUND PERIODICALS Tariff Status Par. 1726. Newspapers and unbound periodicals, which were free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1922, are free of duty also under the Tariff Act of 1930. Their duty-free status was originally bound in the trade agreement with the United Kingdom, effective January 1939, and subsequently bound in the Geneva agreement. Trade Statistics Table 1.- Newspapers and periodicals, unbound: United States Statistics on imports represent bulk imports and exclude those newspapers and periodicals entering free of duty which are delivered through the mails to individual subscribers. Source: Official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION NEWSPAPERS AND UNBOUND PERIODICALS Comment This summary covers newspapers and periodicals, except fashion publications printed in whole or in part lithographically, which are not bound or have only paper covers and which have been issued within six months of the date of entry. Furthermore, to qualify for free entry under paragraph 1726, the newspapers and periodicals must be "devoted to current literature of the day, or containing current literature as a predominant feature, and issued regularly at stated periods, ... and bearing the date of issue." Fashion magazines or periodicals printed in whole or in part by lithographic processes or decorated by hand are dutiable (see separate summary under par. 1406). It is estimated that current domestic production of newspapers and periodicals which, if imported, would enter free under paragraph 1726 represents a circulation of about 32,000 publications. Between 30 and 35 billion copies of such domestic newspapers and periodicals are published annually and these weigh about 12 billion pounds and are valued at about 3.6 billion dollars. United States imports since World War II of the newspapers and periodicals here discussed have averaged about 4.4 million pounds annually, valued at about 1.9 million dollars. The statistics on imports represent newspapers and periodicals imported in bulk and do not include those delivered through the mails to individual subscribers. Before the war the United Kingdom and Canada were the principal sources of imports, but significant quantities were also received from Japan, Germany, and France. By far the dominant proportion of imports since the war has come from Canada; the United Kingdom, Japan, and France sre sources of most of the remainder. Data on United States exports of newspapers and periodicals are not available but it is probable that exports are considerably larger than imports. SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION UNDEVELOPED NEGATIVE MOTION-FICTURE FILM OF AMERICAN MANUFACTURE (PAR. 1726) Tariff Status Par. 1726. Undeveloped negative motion-picture film of American manufacture exposed abroad for newsreels, which was dutiable at 2 cents per linear foot under the Tariff Act of 1922, is free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1930. Trade Statistics Table 1.- Undeveloped negative motion-picture film of American manufacture exposed abroad for newsreels: United States inports for consumption, by principal sources, in specified years, 1937 to 1948 Includes imports from a substantial number of countries. Source: Official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. 4/ Included with Germany. |