SUMMARY OF TARIFF INFORMATION, 1920.

ACT OF 1909.

ENACTING CLAUSE.

AN ACT To provide revenue, equalize duties and encourage the industries of the United States, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That on and after the day following the passage of this Act, except as otherwise specially provided for in the second section of this Act, there shall be levied, collected, and paid upon all articles when imported from any foreign country into the United States or into any of its possessions (except the Philippine Islands and the islands of Guam and Tutuila) the rates of duty which are by the schedules and paragraphs of the dutiable list of this section prescribed, namely:

ACT OF 1913.

AN ACT To reduce tariff duties and to provide revenue for the Government, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That on and after the day following the passage of this Act, except as otherwise specially provided for in this Act, there shall be levied, collected, and paid upon all articles when imported from any foreign country into the United States or into any of its possessions (except the Philippine Islands and the islands of Guam and Tutuila) the rates of duty which are by the schedules and paragraphs of the dutiable list of this section prescribed, namely:

INTERPRETATION AND COMMENTS.

The tariff act of 1913 was designed to be a complete revision of the tariff laws of the country, and its wording clearly shows that it was intended as a substitute for all prior tariff legislation not saved by the act itself. (7 Ct. Cust. Appls., 343, of 1916.) "When imported" should be read as meaning "which are imported." (9 Ct. Cust. Appls., T. D. 37978, 37980, of 1919.)

INSULAR POSSESSIONS.

The Panama Canal Zone is not a possession of the United States but is a place subject to its jurisdiction for maintenance of the canal. (27 Op. Atty. Gen., 594, of 1909.) Shipments between the United States and the Canal Zone are treated in all respects as shipments to and from foreign countries. (Act of Mar. 2, 1905; 216 U. S., 610, of 1910.) The customs administration of said Zone is under the jurisdiction of the War Department. (Art. 201, Cust. Regs. of 1915.)

The tariff status of the Philippine Islands has been fixed by law. Duties are collected upon importations into Guam and Tutuila under a tariff administered by the Navy Department, and goods not products of those islands when brought thence into the United States are subjected to duties at the rates imposed by the tariff act of 1913. Under existing laws merchandise can not be shipped to those islands for drawback of duties nor be withdrawn from bonded warehouses for shipment thereto without payment of duties. (Art. 200, Cust. Regs. of 1915.)

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The Virgin Islands.-The act of March 3, 1917 (chap. 171), provides as follows:

SEC. 3. On and after the passage of this act there shall be levied, collected, and paid, upon all articles coming into the United States or its possessions, from the West Indian Islands ceded to the United States by Denmark, the rates of duty and internal-revenue taxes which are required to be levied, collected, and paid upon like articles imported from foreign countries: Provided, That all articles, the growth or product of, or manufactured in such islands from materials the growth or product of such islands or of the United States, or of both, or which do not contain foreign materials to the value of more than 20 per centum of their total value, upon which no drawback of customs duties has been allowed therein, coming into the United States from such islands shall hereafter be admitted free of duty.

SEC. 4. That until Congress shall otherwise provide all laws now imposing taxes in the said West Indian Islands, including the customs laws and regulations, shall, in so far as compatible with the changed sovereignty and not otherwise herein provided, continue in force and effect, except that articles the growth, product, or manufacture of the United States shall be admitted there free of duty: Provided, That upon exportation of sugar to any foreign country, or the shipment thereof to the United States or any of its possessions, there shall be levied, collected, and paid thereon an export duty of $8 per ton of two thousand pounds irrespective of polariscope test, in lieu of any export tax now required by law.

66 UNITED STATES" DEFINED.

The following definition of "United States" suggested by the Tariff Commission in its report upon the Revision of the Customs Administrative Laws concerns all of those possessions:

The term " United States" means the United States and any Territory, or other place subject to the jurisdiction thereof, except the Philippine Islands, Guam, Tutuila [the Virgin Islands], and the Isthmian Canal Zone, which for the purposes of this act, except as otherwise therein provided or as ordered by the President, shall be treated as foreign countries.

1.

DUTIABLE LIST.

SCHEDULE A. CHEMICALS, OILS, AND PAINTS.

ACT OF 1909.

PARAGRAPH 1.

Boracic acid, 3 cents per pound; citric acid, 7 cents per pound; lactic acid, containing not over 40 per centum by weight of actual lactic acid, 2 cents per pound; containing over 40 per centum by weight of actual lactic acid, 3 cents per pound; oxalic acid, 2 cents per pound; salicylic acid, 5 cents per pound; tannic acid or tannin, 35 cents per pound; gallic acid, 8 cents per pound; tartaric acid, 5 cents per pound; all other acids not specially provided for in this section, 25 per centum ad valorem.

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ACT OF 1913.

1. Acids: Boracic acid, cent per pound; citric acid, 5 cents per pound; formic acid, 14 cents per pound; gallic acid, 6 cents per pound; lactic acid, 11 cents per pound; oxalic acid, 11 cents per pound;, pyrogallic acid, 12 cents per pound; salicylic acid,1 21 cents per pound; tannic acid and tannin, cents per pound; tartaric acid, 3 cents per pound; all other acids and acid anhydrides not specially provided for in this section, 15 per centum ad valorem."

1 Repealed by war revenue act of Sept. 8, 1916, and 2 cents per pound and

15 per centum ad valorem imposed.

2 See war revenue act (infra) as to coal-tar products.

GENERAL INFORMATION.

BORIC OR BORACIC ACID.

Description.-Boracic acid is an obsolete name for a substance usually called boric acid in commercial and scientific usage. Borax refined, or borate of soda, closely allied to boric acid, is dutiable at one-eighth cent per pound under paragraph 67. Crude borax and crude borate minerals from which boric acid and refined borax are made are on the free list, paragraph 429.

Uses. The principal uses of boric acid and borax are: (a) In making enamels for iron and steel (kitchen ware, sanitary ware, equipment for chemical factories, watch dials, etc.). (b) As an ingredient for glazes on earthenware and pottery. (c) In the manufacture of some varieties of glass, especially lamp chimneys and chemical laboratory ware. (d) As a flux for welding and brazing metals. (e) As an ingredient for some varieties of soap, principally laundry soap for use with hard water. (f) In the tanning of some varieties of leather. (g) As an antiseptic in eye lotions, cosmetics, and washes for wounds. (h) It is used extensively in Europe as a food preservative, especially in dairy products, dried and smoked meat, and sausages. In the United States this use is prevented by the food and drugs act, except on products intended for export.

Production.-Boric acid and borax are made from crude borate minerals which are mined commercially in California and Nevada, and Chile, Italy, Turkey, and Germany. The United States produces about one-half of the world's total supply and Chile about one-third. The domestic production of these minerals has grown from 50,609 tons in 1914 to 108,875 tons in 1917. The manufacture of refined boric acid and borax is on a small scale in California but on a large scale in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. Production in the United States in 1914 was 4,295 tons, valued at $588,981, and in 1917 was 5,888 tons, valued at $1,383,783.

Imports have been less than 5 per cent of the American production. No statistics of exports are available, but exports were probably negligible before the war. An important export trade has developed since 1914.1

CITRIC ACID AND CITRATE OF LIME.

Description and uses.—Citric acid is a white crystalline substance obtained as a by-product of the lemon industry. Its principal use is in the manufacture of beverages and pharmaceutical preparations. Citrate of lime (dutiable at 1 cent per pound, par. 41) is the intermediary step in the manufacture of citric acid from lemon juice. Citrate of lime is used exclusively for the manufacture of citric acid. Domestic production.-The largest proportion manufactured in the United States is from the citrate of lime imported from Sicily; a small portion is made from lemon and lime juice imported from the West Indies, which is exempt from duty under paragraph 532; and the remainder is obtained as a by-product of the lemon industry in California.

Citric acid is made from "cull" lemons (inferior or damaged), not salable as fresh fruit. Another by-product obtained at the same time

1 See Tariff Commission report, "Acids of Paragraph 1 and Related Materials in the Tariff Act of 1913," for detailed import and export information.

is essential oil of lemon, which is dutiable at 10 per cent under paragraph 46. The cultural methods in California are so much superior to those commonly used in Sicily that a smaller proportion of the crop is converted into by-products. There is a large acreage of young, nonbearing lemon trees in California, and a substantial increase in the crop may be expected in the near future. In spite of this large increase in total output of lemons, the American demand for citric acid can not be met from domestic sources unless overproduction forces lemons of good grade into by-products.

In addition to the California producers, a group of manufacturers located near Atlantic ports make citric acid, principally from imported citrate of lime. These firms are concerned chiefly with the margin of duty between citrate of lime and citric acid. The production of citric acid in the United States has grown from 2,729,943 pounds in 1914 to 4,032,897 pounds in 1917.

Imports in 1913 were only 8,677 pounds, valued at $2,916, on which a revenue of $607 was collected. After the passage of the act of 1913 imports of citric acid increased greatly, although remaining small in comparison with imports of citrate of lime. In 1915 imports were 722,434 pounds, valued at $447,131, which yielded a revenue of $36,121. This increase was not due entirely to the change in the tariff, but in part to the erection of critic-acid factories in Italy.

FORMIC ACID.

Description and uses.-Concentrated formic acid is a corrosive, fuming, colorless liquid with a characteristic and irritating odor. It mixes with water in all proportions and appears in commerce in strengths varying from 50 per cent to almost 100 per cent. It is stronger than acetic acid, which it resembles closely, and has antiseptic properties. It is useful in the dyeing and tanning industries, but other competing acids have, as a rule, been cheaper, and its use has therefore been restricted to a few cases for which it has peculiar advantages. Formic acid forms esters with various alcohols which are used in perfumes and solvents. Recent technical advances in its domestic manufacture and commercial development indicate that under normal conditions it may be put on the market at a lower price. These new discoveries will probably indirectly have a marked influence on the manufacture of oxalic acid.

One process,

Production.-Formic acid is made by two processes. developed in Germany and controlled by German patents before the war, but since developed in the United States, depends on heating caustic soda with carbon monoxide under pressure, yielding sodium formate, from which either formic acid or oxalic acid may be made by subsequent treatment. The other process, an American invention developed during the war, depends on first making cyanide of soda from soda, coke, and air. The cyanide of soda is then decomposed by steam, yielding ammonia and sodium formate. Both processes are in the infant stage of development in the United States.

Imports. The largest were in 1914 when 1,119,745 pounds of formic acid and 1,843,245 pounds of sodium formate were imported, almost entirely from Germany.

Exports. Formic acid is not recorded in the official export statistics. Exports are probably negligible.