Comparative height of basic import duties on cotton yarn. [Duties of 25 foreign countries compared with those of the United States in 1914 and 1918.] The salient deductions to be derived from the above comparison are as follows: (a) Seven of the twenty-five countries considered admit coarse and medium yarns free of duty or at a nominal duty of less than 1 cent a pound. The number increases with the fineness of the yarn, until 11 of the 25 are seen to be admitting yarns 120s and finer at nominal rates or free. (b) Conversely, while there were five countries whose duties on low-count yarns were higher than those of the United States in 1914, on fine yarns there were only three. In 1918, the duties of three countries exceeded the American on counts under 40s, and only one, Russia, collected higher duties than the American average on yarns. above 100s in fineness. (c) Compared with the principal industrially advanced countries, the American duties in 1914 were not much above the foreign average on coarse and medium yarns, under 40s-23 cents per pound versus 2 cents. On medium fine yarns, 40s to 80s, it was about three times the average-94 cents versus 3 cents. On fine yarns, 80s to 100s, the average American duty was four times the foreign average, 14 cents versus 34 cents. On very fine yarns over 100s, (no division being made in the American tariff at 120s, the real basic limit of "very fine" yarns), the average duty of the principal foreign countries was 4 cents a pound, while the American duty in 1914 averaged almost 14 cents higher, that is, 18 cents. CHANGES IN THE AMERICAN DUTIES FROM 1914 TO 1918 UNDER THE AD VALOREM SYSTEM. The much higher basic duties on cotton yarn when imported into the United States than into other advanced countries, indicated by the foregoing analysis, and the growing disparity with the in creasing fineness of the yarns, have been characteristic of the American. yarn schedule even in normal times. The deductions as to relative height of duties indicated in (c) above represent the fiscal year 1914, the first year under the reduced duties of the Underwood Act of 1913, and the last year prior to the war. Since 1914, the comparative excess of the American import duties has become even more pronounced. For while practically all important foreign tariffs on cotton yarn are assessed at a fixed specific amount, and remained constant throughout the period, the American duties, being ad valorem, increased in amount to correspond with the increased market prices of the yarns. The rise in the price of raw cotton, and consequently of cotton products, has been one of the striking phenomena that devoped during the latter years of the war, and that has for the largest part continued into 1919. One of the unlooked-for results has been a marked increase in the import duties imposed upon all cotton products where the duties in the last act were ad valorem. Without change in the nominal rates of duty on basic cotton yarn-5 per cent to 27 per cent-the amount of duty collected per pound on imports during 1918 is seen to be more than double those in 1914, and several times the corresponding average duties of the principal foreign countries. This is particularly true of fine yarns, which form the bulk of our imports. Thus, leaving out of account both the groups of countries which impose very high duties, and the larger number which admit fine yarns free of duty or at a nominal rate of less than a cent a pound, the approximate average duty on fine yarns for the principal foreign countries in 1918 ranged from 3 to 4 cents a pound, while importers into the United States paid in the same year an average of 12 cents on yarns of the 40s to 49s range, increasing to 37 cents on yarns over 100s in fineness, with an average duty on all fine yarns of 22.67 cents per pound. On shipments of typical counts of very fine yarns, it is possible from the investigations of the commission, to present precise comparisons based on import invoices of the same yarns in 1914 and 1918. Thus, taking 140/2 as a typical yarn of the upper range of fineness, and also 220/2 as representing the finest count imported in both years, we find the following record of shipments in 1914 and 1918: The records thus indicate that the basic rate of 25 per cent ad valorem on gray carded yarns over 99s amounted to an actual specific duty on the finest grade imported under the basic classification of 24 cents in 1914, and to more than double that, or 69 cents, under the higher level of prices prevailing in 1918. The corresponding duties on the same yarns if imported into the foreign countries having the highest tariffs, would have been: France, 13.13 cents per pound; Spain, 23.64 cents; and Russia. the highest of all foreign countries, 38.37 cents a pound. Similarly, on the finest yarn imported in both years under the advanced classification of the American tariff, which carries an additional 24 per cent ad valorem,- 220/2 combed lace yarn-the rate of 27 amounted to an equivalent specific duty per pound of 87 cents in 1914, and $1.17 a pound on a similar shipment recorded in 1918. The highest foreign duties would have been: Spain, 26 cents a pound; France, 35.28; and Russia, 51.7 cents a pound. On imports of very fine counts, therefore, it would appear that the American tariff in 1918 levied a duty, measured in cents per pound, the highest of any known country, and fully double that of Russia, which is usually regarded as having the highest of all textile tariffs. COMPARATIVE IMPORT DUTIES ON 78S COTTON YARN-THE PRINCIPAL AMERICAN IMPORT. In both years for which the original invoices were studied by representatives of the Tariff Commission, No. 78 cotton yarn constituted the largest single count imported into the United States. No. 78 is, therefore, the most significant count for the purpose of a single-standard comparison of the relative import duties levied by the various countries. Table 30 shows the American and foreign import duties on 78s gray cotton yarn, in singles, 2-ply, and cabled; and on the 2-ply when also subjected to bleaching, dyeing, or mercerizing. All duties are expressed in terms of cents per pound, the American ad valorem rates having been converted into equivalent specific duties, based upon approximate prices for the various yarns specified, in 1914 and 1918. When the 25 countries are ranked in order of the height of the duties on 78/2 gray carded yarns there being no distinction between carded and combed in other tariffs than the American-the deductions are in large measure corroboratory of those drawn from the study of chart I. The prices, and hence the equivalent specific rates collected, on imports into the United States of this representative grade of cotton yarn about doubled from 1914 to 1918. Even in 1914, however, the American duties were far in excess of those of practically all the other leading countries. They ranked fifth in order of height, being exceeded only by Brazil, Russia, and Spain, countries with notably excessive duties on all imported commodities. Moreover, when advanced beyond the gray carded state-either combed, doubled, or processed-the disparity between the American and the foreign duties increased. The comparison is presented in tabular form, and the precise amount of duty collected by the different countries on the basic yarn, and the relative increases imposed by each when the yarn is advanced in process or changed in condition is best seen from the table itself, which follows. |