20 THE CUBA REVIEW 



Box No. 40, gross weight 57 kilos, net weight 'M\ kilos, value S27.oo rain eoats, duties as 

 follows : 



P" Box No. 40, rain coats, 57 kilos gross less 10' c official tare, 51 kilos rain coats paying duty 



at the rate of S22.75 per 100 kilos, with a surtax of 30'. < S15.0S 



Box packing, 6 kilos at S0.16 per 100 kilos 01 



Port improvements at S0.70 per 1,000 kilos 04 



Total Sl^-13 



If the tare had been broken with one package tooth picks weighing 0.500 kilos, value SO. 05, 

 the duties would have been as follows: 



36 kilos rain coats paying duty at the rate of $22.75 per 100 



kilos with a surtax of 30S( S10.70 



Tooth picks, value SO. 05 at 5% ad valorem .01 



Box packing, 20 kilos at the rate of $0.16 ])er 100 ks .04 



Port improvements at the rate of $0.70 per 1000 ks .04 



Total S10.7Q 



Therefore in this shipment if the official tare had been broken a saving would have been 

 made of $4.34 on merchandise worth $27.55, about 16' c on the value of the goods. 



Often a considerable saving can be made by breaking the tare on paints and varnishes as 

 the following cases will show. It is not on record that any shipment of paints or varnishes has 

 ever been made from the United States with the tare broken. 



Nos. 1-43. 43 boxes prepared paint, 1774 kilos gross, 1209 net, value $213.88; duties as 

 follows : 



Xos. 1-43. 43 boxes paint, 1774 kilos gross, less IT^ c official tare 



1472 kilos at the rate of $3.50 per 100 ks $51.52 



Box packing, 302 kilos at SO. 16 per 100 ks 48 



Port improvements, 1774 ks. at $0.70 per 1,000 ks 1.25 



Total $53.25 



If the tare had been broken, only 1209 kilos of paint would have paid duty, and a saving 

 of about $9.79 would have been made, about 4'.^ on the value of the merchandise. 



Xos. 1-34, 31-48 and No. 73. 45 boxes prepared paint, 2067 kilos gross, actual net weight 

 1,330 kilos, value $233.09. If the tare had been broken on this shipment a saving of about 

 $13.89 would have been made, about 6% of the value of the goods. Nos. 1-6, 11-57, 53 boxes 

 prepared paint, gross weight 2,412, actual net weight 1,663 kilos; value $280.95, total duties 

 paid on this shipment $79.12. If the tare had been broken a saving would have been made of 

 about $11.66, 4:% on the value of the goods. 



Nos. 75-85, 11 boxes varnish, gross weight 510 kilos, actual net w'eight 375 kilos, value 

 $58.20. The duties on this shipment were $33.03. If the tare had been broken a saving of 

 about $4.06 would have resulted, about 7*^^i on the value of the goods. 



!Many of these shipments of paints and varnishes are accompanied by advertising material, 

 pamphlets, small sample cards, etc., and a few of these placed in each box would have broken 

 the tare. Breaking the tare on such goods would cause a little extra work in the preparation of 

 the invoices. The ex-porters in the United States should study the matter and decide the kinds 

 of goods that should have the tare broken. It should be taken into consideration that only 

 intimate knowledge of Custom House laws can decide where it is advisable to break the tare 

 and where not. It is not possible to state w-hat would be the saving in the entire foreign trade 

 of the United States if these matters were better imderstood by the American exporter, but as 

 far as Cuba is concerned it is a very conser\^ative estimate to say that the saving would be 14 of 

 I'/c of the exports of the United States to Cuba, and as Cuba buys in the United States merchan- 

 dise in the course of a year to about the value of $71,000,000, actual purchases for 1912-1913,. 

 $71,754,000, the amoimt so saved would be the respectable sum of $179,385. 



