UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION FERTILIZERS, COMPOUNDED OR CHEMICALLY COMBINED, CONTAINING Tariff Status Par. 1685. Fertilizers, compounded or chemically combined, containing nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, which were free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1922, are free of duty also under the Tariff Act of 1930. The duty-free status of these compounded fertilizers was bound in the Geneva agreement. Trade Statistics Table 1.- Fertilizers, compounded or chemically combined, containing nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash: United States imports for consumption, by principal sources, in specified years, 1937 to 1948 1/ 1 Imports in 1940 amounted to 30 short tons, valued at $2,162, and were all from Germany. In 1942, imports were all from Canada and amounted to less than 1 ton, valued at $120. There were no imports in 1941, 1945, or 1946. 2/ Preliminary. 3/ Includes Austria, 1938-43. Source: Official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. Note. Statistics on production and exports are not available. Production and SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION FERTILIZERS, COMPOUNDED OR CHEMICALLY COMBINED, CONTAINING Comment The fertilizers covered by this summary are highly concentrated complete fertilizers which are prepared from mixtures of fertilizer materials by chemical processes. Other complete fertilizers, prepared by the mechanical mixing of fertilizer materials, are covered in a separate summary entitled "Prepared Fertilizer Mixtures," par. 1685. The compounded or chemically combined fertilizers covered by this summary contain the three essential plant foods, nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, and in some cases have a total plant-food content as high as 60 percent. The fertilizer materials contained in one type of compounded fertilizer--which was imported only before the war-are di ammonium phosphate, ammonium nitrate, and potassium chloride or potassium sulfate, with a plant-food content of 50 to 60 percent. Another type of complete fertilizer which has been imported is made by compounding monoammonium phosphate, ammonium sulfate, and potassium sulfate. Grades of this fertilizer range in total plant-food content from 34 to 50 percent. Statistics on United States production of fertilizers compounded or chemically combined are not available. Production, if any, is believed to be small. In immediate prewar years United States imports of fertilizers compounded or chemically combined, chiefly from Germany, ranged from 9,500 short tons in 1937 to 3,100 short tons in 1939 (see table 1). The largest imports of these fertilizers on record occurred in 1930 when imports amounted to 11,804 short tons, valued at $760,623 (foreign value). There were no imports of these fertilizers in 1941, 1945, or 1946, and imports in the other war years were negligible. Imports in 1948, all from Canada, amounted to 533 short tons, valued at $19,961. Statistics on United States exports of fertilizers compounded or chemically combined are not available but exports, if any, are probably negligible. 1 See also separate summaries on nitrogenous, phosphatic, and potassic fertilizer materials, pars. 1641, 1685, 1740, and 1745. * Par. 1685. GUANO Tariff Status Guano, which was free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1922, is free of duty also under the Tariff Act of 1930. Its duty-free status originally was bound in the trade agreement with the United Kingdom, effective January 1, 1939; and similar binding was thereafter included in the trade agreements with Peru and Mexico and in the Geneva agreement. UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION GUANO Trade Statistics Table 1.- Guano: United States imports for consumption, by principal In January-September 1948, imports amounted to only 1 ton, valued at $25, all from the Dominican Republic. 2/ Preliminary. 3 Most of the imports from these sources are whale guano. Includes 6,160 short tons, valued at $100,584, from Chile. Source: Official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. Note.- Statistics on United States production and exports are not available, but SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION GUANO Comment The term guano originally applied to the accumulated excrement of seafowls found in the dry climate of the Peruvian coast and elsewhere. This guano is generally mixed with the carcasses of the birds and such foreign materials as sand. In the course of time, the meaning of the term "guano" was enlarged to include the accumulated manure of bats, turtles, and seals, as well as byproduct "guanos" such as fish meal and fish waste, whale "guano", meat "guang" and other similar fertilizer material derived from waste organic sources. 2/ summary includes all of these natural guanos. This The most typical natural guano comes from Peruvian deposits. That material contains from 11 to 16 percent of nitrogen, from 8 to 12 percent of phosphoric acid, and from 2 to 3 percent of potash. Natural guano is used chiefly as a fertilizer on high-priced garden crops. Its consumption is negligible in comparison with the consumption of chemical fertilizer materials. Statistics on United States production of natural guano are not available. In 1945 one domestic company is reported to have started operations on extensive deposits of bat manure found in caves near Spring Valley, Nevada. Before the war United States imports of guano averaged about 12,500 short tons annually, chiefly from Peru and Argentina (see table 1), and probably consisted largely of natural guano. Except for the 98 tons reported in 1945, there have been no imports from Peru since 1941, as a result of the decrease in bird population and the restrictions imposed by the Peruvian Government on natural guano exports. Imports in 1946 were mainly from Newfoundland and Labrador and consisted mostly of whale guano. There were no imports in 1947 and during the first 9 months of 1948, only 1 ton was reported (all from the Dominican Republic). Statistics on United States exports of guano are not available, but exports are believed to be small, if any. Fish meal for animal and poultry feeds is treated in a separate summary under paragraph 1780. 2/ In some parts of the United States the term "guano" is sometimes used to cover all fertilizer material, both organic and inorganic. However, for the purposes of this summary, the term includes only those guanos listed above and does not include such items as sodium nitrate, superphosphate, or mixed fertilizers which are consumed in much larger quantities than natural guano. * UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION LIMESTONE, CRUDE, CRUSHED, BROKEN, GROUND, OR PULVERIZED, WHEN IMPORTED (PAR. 1685) Tariff Status Par. 1685. Limestone, crude, crushed, or broken, when imported to be used in the manufacture of fertilizer, was dutiable at various rates under paragraphs 203 and 214 of the Tariff Act of 1922 and under the same paragraphs of the Tariff Act of 1930 until June 24, 1948, when an amendment 1/ to paragraph 1685 providing for its free entry under that paragraph became effective. Ground or pulverized limestone of fertilizer grade, which was free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1922, is free of duty also under the Tariff Act of 1930. 1/ Public Law 750, 80th Cong. Trade Statistics Table 1.- Limestone, crude, crushed, broken, ground, or pulverized, when imported to be used in the manufacture of fertilizer: United States production and imports for consumption, in specified years, 1937 to 1948 1/Principally from Canada. Statistics do not include imports of crude, crushed, or broken limestone, 1937 to April 24, 1948, which was then dutiable. 2/ The value of production represents net value of ground agricultural limestone in bulk at the mill; it does not include the cost of bags or for loading the material on freight cars. 2/ Value of imports represents the foreign value of agricultural limestone packed in bags, delivered at the port of export. 4/ Calculated on exact (i.e., unrounded) figures. The relatively high unit foreign values in 1943 and 1946 are attributable to the inclusion of other higherpriced fertilizer materials in the import statistics of ground or pulverized limestone for those years. 5/ Preliminary, except for production. Source: Production, official statistics of the U. S. Bureau of Mines; imports, official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. Note.- Exports are not separately reported, but they are known to be smaller |