22 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



COMMERCIAL MATTERS 



PROPOSED LOWER DUTY ON PRESERVED VEGETABLES — TRADE IN 



TRUNKS — SALT PRODUCTION AND IMPORTATIONS — 



EXPORTS AND IMPORTS 



rroposcd KeduLtiuii vi Duly 



Minister John B. Jackson reports, from 

 llabana, of a bill under consideration in 

 tlie Cuban House of Representatives, which 

 amends Tariff Is'o. 271, so as to read as 

 follows : 



"Vegetables and legumes, pickled or pre- 

 served in any manner: (a) In drums, 

 10.833 per cent, ad valorem; (6) in tins, 

 bottles, casks, bushel, half-bushel and quar- 

 ter-bushel kegs, or other similar containers, 

 net 32.5 per cent, ad valorem." 



Under the present tariff, preserved veg- 

 etables packed in any manner are dutiable 

 at 32 Vi! per cent, ad valorem, with a re- 

 duction of 30 per cent, of the duty on im- 

 ports from the United States. 



The object of the measure is stated to be 

 the protection of a new industry, "which 

 promises to give employment to large num- 

 bers of workers." If the bill passes, olives 

 can be imported in bulk (drums) at a re- 

 duced rate, and it will pay to establish fac- 

 tories to pack them here, as they are now 

 packed elsewhere, in tins, glass, or kegs, in 

 accordance with the local demand. 



United States Purchases 



Cuban goods were invoiced for the 

 United States through the Habana consu- 

 late during the last quarter of 190'j to the 

 value of $8,283,476. Tobacco in bales rep- 

 resented $4,257,735; cigars, $1,278,134: su- 

 gars, $2,141,248; and molasses and tankage, 

 $71,400. Other articles were $69,080 worth 

 of pineapples, oranges, and grape fruit ; 

 $24,423, sponges ; $15,375, fresh meats ; 

 $13,099, tomatoes and vegetables; $3,632, 

 live turtles; and $18,927, rough mahogany. 



Cheap Trunks Only Manufactured 



Quite a local industry in manufacturing 

 trunks and traveling goods of a related 

 character has been built up in Cuba, but 

 as the product is almost entirely of the 

 cheaper grades, there has been little im- 

 pediment to importations of the more ex- 

 pensive wood and leather trunks and va- 

 lises. This trade is distributed about 

 equally between Europe and the United 

 States. 



The duty on trunks with ordinary trim- 

 mings and valises imported from the 



United States is 25 per cent, ad valorem, 

 this being 20 per cent, lower than the tariff 

 on European goods. 



The successful exploitation of such 

 goods can only be accomplished by per- 

 sonal solicitation, as the merchants han- 

 dling these articles are almost without ex- 

 ception Spanish and are acustomed to buy- 

 ing from samples.- — Report U. S. Consul- 

 Gcncral James L. Rodgers, Havana. 



Cuba's Salt Trade 



There is practically no local production 

 of salt in Cuba, except in the crudest way, 

 and therefore it need not be taken into ac- 

 count. There is no prospect of any local 

 industry beginning the manufacture of salt, 

 and so far there have been no deposits of 

 rock salt discovered. The importation in 

 the fis-cal year of 1907-S was, in common 

 salt, 24,671,473 pounds, of which the United 

 States furnished 23,565,560 pounds, the bulk 

 of the remainder coming from Spain. In 

 prepared salt the total importation for the 

 tiscal year named was 13,236,339 pounds, of 

 which the United States furnished 12,406,- 

 933 pounds. The duty on common rock 

 salt entering Cuba from the United States 

 is 70 cents per 100 kilos (.220 pounds), this 

 being a 30 per cent, reduction from the 

 duty to the world at large. The prepared 

 salt enters from the United States at 91 

 cents per 100 kilos, this enjoying also the 

 30 per cent, reduction. 



Duty on Shoes 



Recent advices to the New England Shoe 

 and Leather Association from Havana state 

 that the agitators for an increase in the 

 protective duty on shoes are still actively 

 working on the members of the Cuban 

 Congress. Some of the statements set 

 forth in their printed matter, relative to 

 the present importance of the shoe manu- 

 facturing industry in Cuba, are consider- 

 ably exaggerated. It is not thought likely 

 that their movement will meet with suc- 

 cess. ^ 



Exports from the United States to Cuba 

 in the eleven months of the current fiscal 

 year increased from $40,000,000 to about 

 $48,000,000. Cuba leads as a market for 

 American boots and shoes. — U. S. Dept. of 

 Commerce and Labor, 



