SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION STRAMONIUM (PAR. 1728) Tariff Status Par. 1728. Stramonium, which was dutiable at 25 percent ad valorem under the Tariff Act of 1922, is free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1930. Trade Statistics Table 1.- Stramonium: United States imports for consumption, by 1 Preliminary. Includes imports from Germany amounting to 18,777 pounds valued at $1,648 with a unit foreign value of 9 cents per pound. Source: Official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. Note.- Statistics on domestic production and exports are not available (see text). UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION STRAMONIUM Comment This summary covers the crude drug stramonium, both in its natural state and when advanced in value or condition by milling or grinding, i.e., powdered stramonium. Stramonium consists of the dried leaves' and the flowering tops of plants, Datura stramonium, commonly known as Jimson weed, and Datura totula. Both species are recognized by the United States Pharmacopoeia. The plants are native to Asia but have been naturalized in Europe, the United States, and South America, growing particularly in old fields, by roadsides, and in waste places. Ground stramonium is a bright green or light brown to yellowish green powder. The active constituents of stramonium are the alkaloids hyoscyamine, atropine, and scopolamine; the crude drug usually contains to 7/10 of 1 percent of total alkaloids. Stramonium is used chiefly in the treatment of asthma. The medicinal properties of stramonium are similar to those of belladonna and it can be used as a substitute for belladonna in certain cases. Stramonium occurs wild in almost all States of the United States except in the far west and is especially prevalent in North Carolina. Statistics on domestic production are not available but United States output is probably much less than imports. Collection is almost entirely from wild plants. Statistics on United States exports are not available, but exports are probably very small, if any. In the prewar period, 1937-39, United States annual imports of stramonium ranged from 320,000 pounds, valued at about $21,000, to 517,000 pounds, valued at $37,000 and came principally from Hungary and Italy (see table 1). During 1941-45 annual imports ranged from 114,000 pounds, valued at $13,000 to 702,000 pounds, valued at $102,000, and Argentina was the predominant supplier in this period. In the years 1946-48 Argentina continued to be the principal source of United States imports, which ranged from 186,000 pounds, valued at about $20,000, in 1947 to 380,000 pounds, valued at $43,000, in 1946. The average unit foreign value of imports of stramonium in the prewar years was from 7 to 8 cents per pound; it increased to 14 cents in 1941-42 and remained stable at 11 cents per pound in 1943-47. In 1948 it was 10 cents per pound. U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: O-1950 |