THE CUBA REVIEW 



23 



CUBAN COMMERCIAL MATTERS 



CUBA AS A DISTRIBUTING POINT 



In speaking of the large amount of business 

 transacted by Haverhill, Mass., shoe manu- 

 facturers with Cuban concerns, a member 

 of the local trade said: 



"We say, and very truthfully, too, that 

 Cuba buys more Haverhill-made shoes than 

 any other foreign country. The lightweight 

 footwear, which is so large a part of Haver- 

 hill's production in women's goods, is es- 

 pecially well suited to the Cuban trade. 



"And yet Cuba doesn't, bj' any means, 

 use all the shoes that are sent there from 

 Haverhill. The shipments of goods from 

 this city to that island every year are suf- 

 ficient to supply a population mam' times 

 greater than that of Cuba. The fact of the 

 matter is that Cuba is a gi'eat distributing 

 point for shoes to other points in the West 

 Indies as well as Central and South America. 



"There are several large wholesale houses 

 on the island which have an extensive trade 

 in Central and South America, and employ 

 a goodly number of travehng men to visit the 

 Spanish-speaking trade. In this way Haver- 

 hill slippers are handled bj^ many merchants 

 in the countries to the south, who do not 

 buy direct from the local manufactiu'ers, but 

 through the Cuban distributors. 



"The latter have built up a large and 

 flourishing business and are increasing it 

 from year to year. They represent respon- 

 sible houses, most of them long estabhshed 

 and of unquestioned credit. Haverhill firms 

 are glad to sell them goods, and spare no 

 efforts in the way of getting up styles which 

 are particularh- suited for the Spanish- 

 American trade." — Boot and Shoe' Record, 

 New York. 



LOOK AFTER THE PACKING 



The United States Bureau of Foreign and 

 Domestic Commerce issues the following 

 warning regarding packing merchandise for 

 Cuba. It says: 



"The importance of a knowledge of the cus- 

 toms treatment of packing in foreign coiui- 

 tries is, as a rule, not sufficiently realized by 

 American exporters. While most exporters 

 appreciate the advantage of light packing for 

 goods dutiable on gross weight, there are 

 other features of the customs treatment of 

 packing in foreign countries, less obvious 

 perhaps, which deserve attention. For in- 

 stance, the Cuban tariff provides, like many 

 other tariffs, that certain articles shall be 

 dutiable on gross weight, but shall be entitled 

 to fLxed allowances for tare, depending on the 

 nature of the packing. It not infrequently 

 happens that for some classes of goods the 

 prescribed tare allowance is too low to cover 

 the minimum amount of packing requisite for 



safety in shipment. If the rates of duty on 

 such ai'ticles are high, these high rates have 

 to be paid for each kilo of packing above the 

 quantity for which tare is allowed. It is 

 evident that it would be to the advantage of 

 those interested if it were possible to separate 

 the packmg from the contents for customs 

 purposes. Cases have been reported where 

 American shippers have continued to pack 

 merchandise so that they have had to pay the 

 duty on the packing at the same rate as on 

 the merchandise, while foreign shippers, by 

 famiharizing themselves with all the possi- 

 bilities of the Cuban customs requirements, 

 have paid duty on the packing at the lower 

 rates apphcable to the packing alone. This 

 has been possible under section 10 of provi- 

 sion third of the rules for the application of 

 the tariff of Cuba, which reads as follows: 



"When ai'ticles dutiable on net weight are 

 imported in the same receptacle with articles 

 dutiable on gi-oss weight, by the piece, or ad 

 valorem, with the same or different tare 

 allowances, such articles shall be subject to 

 their respective rates of duty on net or duti- 

 able weight, without tai"e allowance, while the 

 outer receptacle shall pay duty according to 

 the component material." 



This provision may be taken advantage of 

 by simply shipping in the same package with 

 the principal articles, dutiable on gross weight 

 with tare allowance, a small quantity of other 

 merchantlise dutiable on net weight. For 

 example, it is stated that a package of tooth- 

 picks included in the same crate with other 

 merchandise has been sufficient to "l^reak the 

 tare" on the latter. 



CUBA'S AUTOMOBILE IMPORTS 



The following statement is a record of the 

 e.-qjorts of motor trucks and passenger vehicles 

 in the year ended June 30, 1914, from the 

 United States to Cuba: 



Commercial Passenger 



Motor Vehicles Automobiles Parts 



No. Value. No. Value. Value. 



19 $33,500 297 $254,428 $48,217 



SANTIAGO'S CUSTOMS COLLECTIONS 



The European war has thus far only had 

 the effect of increasing Santiago's customs 

 collections, according to figures just issued. 

 These are as follows: 



September 1912 $113,666.41 



September 1913 168,345. 98 



September 1914 190,092. 16 



An ice plant is projected for Bolondron, 

 Matanzi^s Province. 



