30 THECUBAREVIEW 



of silk and wool and mixtui-es of these goods are also imported. The foUo-ning table p^ives 

 importations of cotton goods into Cuba for the fiscal year 1914-1915. 



IMPORTATION OF COTTON GOODS INTO CUBA, FISCAL YEAR 1914-1915. 



From the 



Articles. Total United States. 



Yarn and thread $338,116 $36,740 



Plain weave fabrics 4,233,932 1,847,698 



Crossed woven fabrics 2,053,067 820,369 



Knit goods 1,355,915 299,142 



Carpets 2,390 868 



Laces : 445,536 8,980 



Fancy goods 52,556 23,196 



Piques 24,128 10,567 



Ready-made clothing 527,083 390,326 



Velvet 138,823 50,730 



Tulles 69,225 12,293 



Other manufactures of cotton 345,651 74,866 



Total $9,586,422 $3,575,775 



Instructions for Shipping Ready-Made Clothing to Cuba. — Gross and net weight of box or 

 package, must be given. In the Cuban Custom House cotton goods pay duty according to the 

 number of threads in a space of six milometers or one-fourth of an inch. A surtax of 100% is 

 placed on ready-made cotton clothing and siu-tax of 30% for colored threads on both ready- 

 made clothing and fabrics. If the goods contain silk, wool, or any other material, a surtax is 

 placed. If the mixture of silk, wool, or any other material, exceeds one-fifth of the threads then 

 the fabric or goods, are considered as silk or wool and pay duty ad valorem. In sending ready- 

 made cotton clothing to Cuba the shipper may, if he wishes, give number of threads in a space of 

 six milimeters and if the goods are crossed or plain woven. This information is not absolutely 

 necessary, but is a help to the Custom House and to the broker. 



Invoices. — -In the invoices for ready-made clothing to be sent to Cuba, the shipper should 

 always give net weight separate of each class or lot of goods, and the reference mark or nmnber. 

 Ready-made clothing almost always has a reference mark which is attached to the garment by 

 a tag. The reason for this is that goods which may appear similar, when they are placed under 

 the thread countei it is found that the number of threads is different and goods pay at 

 different rates. When the net weights of different lots of ready-made clothing are bunched 

 together, it means that every lot must be weighed in the Custom House, which causes a vast 

 amount of delay in the Custom House despatch. 



Cardboard Boxes.— W\\ei\ ready-made cotton clothing is shipped to Cuba in cardboard 

 boxes the net weight of these cardboard boxes should be given separately. This may result in 

 considerable saving in duties to the buyer. 



Instructions for Shipping Cotton Fabrics to Cuba. — The insti-uctions for shipping readj^-made 

 clothmg to Cuba apply also to fabrics except that for fabrics samples should always be sent. 

 In the Cuban Custom House samples of cotton fabrics are always taken and sending samples 

 avoids the piece of goods, being mutilated and facilitates the work in the Custom House. The 

 trade in Cuba for American cotton goods is rapidly increasing and it is a market which is 

 worthy of careful attention. 



IMPORTS AND EXPORTS 



Total values of merchandise imported from and ex-ported to Cuba during October and the 

 10 months ended October, 1916, compared with corresponding periods of the preceding year 

 were made public by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce of the Department of 

 Commerce, as follows: 



Month of October 10 months ended October 



1916 1915 1916 1915 1914 



Imported from Cuba. . $16,608,357 $8,292,505 $218,193,437 $177,083,869 



Exported to Cuba ... . 15,888,169 9,980,041 128,985,646 73,128,406 $56,4.52,170 



