Mav I, 1909] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



285 



What Is Doing With the Tariff at Washington. 



THE house of representative!; at Washington on April 9 

 adopted the tariff bill (H. R. 1438), known as the "Payne 

 bills," referred to in The India Rubber World April i, 1909 

 (page 245). after which it went to the senate. The finance com- 

 mittee of the latter body, having considered the measure, on April 

 12 reported a substitute bill (S. ), through Senator Aldrich, 



chairman of the committee. This bill is now under discussion, 

 and its passage at an early date is expected, after which a con- 

 ference committee appointed by the two branches of congress 

 will be in the regular order of procedure, and tlie bill as finally 

 agreed upon by them will be that to become law. 



The changes from the Payne bill embodied in the Aldrich sub- 

 stitute are in the main of minor importance, through more 

 changes are made in respect of india-rubber than were involved in 

 the Payne bill as compared with the existing law. The provisions 

 of bill now before the senate, however, is already suggested, can- 

 not be regarded as foreshadowing the final shape which tarilf 

 legislation will take. 



The Payne bill left unchanged the rate of duty on manufactures 

 of india-rubber (30 per cent, ad valorem), e.xcept that rubber 

 sponges were specified separately at 40 per cent., and the old rate 

 on manufactures of gutta-percha (35 per cent, ad valorem) was 

 also unchanged. In the senate bill rubber manufactures are raised 

 to 35 per cent., without rubber sponges being mentioned. Rubber 

 tires, however, are specified separately, for the first time, and at a 

 higher rate. The following paragraphs show the successive pro- 

 visions covering the imposition of duties on imports of auto- 

 mobiles and parts : 



In the law of 1897: 



193. Articles or wares not specially provided for in this act, composed 

 wholly or in part of iron, steel, - - - and whether partly or wholly- 

 manufactured, 45 per cent, ad valorem. 



In the Payne bill, as proposed and adopted : 



140. /Vutoniobiles and parts thereof, bicycles and parts thereof and 

 motor cycles and parts thereof, 45 per cent, ad valorem. 



In the substitute proposed in the senate : 



140. Automobiles, bicycles and motor cycles and parts of amy of tke 

 foregoing, including TIRES, axles and ball bearings, 4s per cent, ad 

 valorem. 



Imports of insulated wire are not specifically provided for under 

 the existing law, but would be dutiable, under a general provision 

 relating to manufactures of copper, at 45 per cent. This was 

 retained in the Payne bill, but in the Aldrich substitute a new 

 provision is included : 



134. - - - telegraph, telephone and other wires and cables composed 

 of metal and rubber, or of metal, rubber and other materials, 45 per cent. 

 cd valorem. 



The india-rubber trade would be affected by any changes in th- 

 rates on elastic webbings, waterproof 'clothing, and fabrics for 

 waterproofing, but on account of the rather intricate form of the 

 various schedules it may be just as well to defer treatment of 

 those until the new measure becoines a law in its completed form. 

 It may be added, however, that the Aldrich bill raises the duty 

 on card clothing composed in part of rubber. 



The free list, in the latest form suggested, contains this item : 



587. India-rubber, crude, and milk of, and scrap and refuse india- 

 rubber, fit only for remanufacture. • 



This reference to scrap, rubber, being without any attempt «t 

 description, is much simpler than the present specification, under 

 which many disputes have arisen between importers and the cus- 

 toms authorities. 



BrSBEB SPONGES AND THE TARIFF. 



During the recent "hearings" before the committee which for- 

 mulated the Payne tariff bill, statements were made regarding the 

 higher cost of labor employed in manufacturing rubber spongei 



in the United States as compared with the European product, as .1 

 reason for demanding a higher rate on such goods than the 

 general rate of 30 per cent, on rubber manufactures. One demand 

 was for so per cent, ad valorem. 



In one of the newspapers the representatives of Euro- 

 pean rubber sponge manufacturer claiming to sell nine-tenths of 

 the rubber sponges imported into this country states that sinct 

 1903, when no rubber sponges of domestic manufacture were sold, 

 their trade has decreased in each successive year as domestic 

 competitors have been able to put on the market an article which 

 is a substitute for the foreign product. The importer referred to 

 intimates that nine-tenths of the rubber sponges made in the 

 United States are the product of a single factory and it is in- 

 teresting in this connection to note that American rubber 

 sponges are being advertised extensively in Germany, in which 

 country, by the way, such goods were manufactured at an earlier 

 date than in the United States. 



NO TARIFF YET ON WASHED RUBBER. 



A N importation made by the Michelin Tire Co. at New York 

 **• was assessed for duty at 30 per cent, ad valorem, the 

 regular rate for manufactures of india-rubber. Protest being 

 made, the United States general appraisers decided : 



"It appears that the rubber involved has been washed and some 

 of the impurities removed therefrom before importation, but the 

 evidence satisfactorily establishes that such washing and conse- 

 quent elimination of impurities had not changed the condition 

 of the rubber from the crude state. It is not in any sense a 

 manufacture of rubber, nor has it been prepared for any special 

 use, and we therefore sustain the claim for free entry under 

 paragraph 579" [of the Tariff act of 1897)] 



The date of these proceedings is not published by the govern- 

 ment, but it is inferred that the action of the port collector 

 against which Messrs. Michelin protested was prior to The India 

 Rubber World's recent article [January i, 1909 — page 121] on the 

 subject of the tariff as related to crude rubber. 



RECLAIMED RUBBER ALSO FREE. 



Another protest made recently by the Michelin Tire Co. related 

 to an importation of rubber which, it appears, the collector at 

 New York assessed for duty as "manufactures of india-rubber.'' 

 The board of general appraisers, to whom appeal was made, de- 

 cided that, whereas the merchandise in question had at one time 

 been in the form of manufactured articles, "it had again been 

 reduced to the crude state, and as it is the condition of mer- 

 chandise as imported which must control in settling the classifi- 

 cation, and thus the claim for free entry of this rubber must be 

 sustained." Elsewhere in the decision this rubber is described as 

 having been "reclaimed or recovered from old scrap, boots and 



shoes and automobile tires." 



* * ♦ 



The government announces the allowance of a drawback on the 

 exportation of rubberized leather manufactured by the Vigori 

 Leather Co. (New York), from imported leather, equal in 

 amount to the duty paid, less I per cent. 



Among the amendments to the Mexican tariff schedule which 

 became effective on February 15 is the inclusion of india-rubber 

 tires for vehicles, with or without leather parts, as a separate 

 item, the rate being .66 peso [=33 cents, gold] per kilogram, net. 

 weight. The rate on articles of india-rubber, gutta-percha and 

 celluloid not specifically mentioned remains unchanged — .45 peso 

 [22j4 cents] per kilogram, gross weight. 



