THE CUBA REVIEW 



15 



Cuban Commercial Matters 



New Cuban Sales Tax 



A tax of 1 per cent, will be collected on 

 the gross amount of all sales made by mer- 

 chants, manufacturers, or industrial estab- 

 lishments, according to a Cuban law of 

 October 9, 1922. The tax will be based on 

 the exact value of the article at the time 

 of sale. The following will be excepted 

 from the payment of this tax : exportations 

 of raw materials or manufactured products, 

 except sirup; wines, tobacco, and industrial 

 alcohol when sold directly by the producer; 

 gross sales of merchandise which do not 

 exceed $1,000 for each quarter, and sales 

 made by small retail dealers, etc. The tax 

 becomes effective on December 1, 1922. 



Proposed Revision of Import Tariff 



A draft of a revised Cuban customs tariff, 

 prepared by the congressional tariff com- 

 mittee, was presented to the Cuban House 

 of Representatives on October 5, and ac- 

 cepted "in principle," according to a dis- 

 patch from Commercial Attache P. L. Ed- 

 wards, at Habana, dated October 12. The 

 bill was then referred to what is to be 

 known as the "special tariff committee of 

 the House of Representatives," which is 

 charged with holding hearings and examin- 

 ing the claims or comments of all interested 

 parties. 



Under the regular legislative procedure 

 of Cuba the bill would be subject to full 

 debate and amendment when returned to 

 the House by its special committee, would 

 be voted upon article by article, and then 

 submitted to the other House for similar 

 action before being presented to the Cuban 

 President for his signature. Were the tariff 

 bill given prime attention, a considerable 

 period of time would necessarily elapse be- 

 fore final action could be secured. 



It is the judgment, however, of informed 

 Government representatives in Cuba, that 

 in view of the number of general fiscal 

 measures which need to be considered and 

 disposed of before the tariff can be taken 

 up, serious consideration of any revision 

 of the Cuban tariff is not likely to take 

 place for some time to come. 



Cuba's Foreign Trade 



Cuba's foreign trade for the twelve 

 months ending November 14, 1922, fell be- 

 low that of the twelve months preceding 

 by $489,893,811, according to customs sta- 

 tistics reported by the American consul 

 general at Havana. The total value of the 

 foreign commerce of the republic dropped 

 from $956,554,249 to $466,660,438. 



Imports into Cuba for the twelve months 

 ending in November last were valued at 

 roundly $183,000,000, against $562,000,000 

 in the preceding period, and exports were 

 valued at $284,000,000, against $395,000,- 

 000 for the previous twelve months. 



Exports to the United States and to other 

 American countries declined by more than 

 $121,000,000, but there was an increase in 

 exports to France, Great Britain and Ger- 

 many. Re-exports increased from $979,000 

 to $2,283,000, chiefly owing to the return 

 to American shippers of large quantities of 

 merchandise which arrived at Havana 

 during the period of financial depression 

 and port congestion. 



The balance of trade, which for the 

 previous twelve months was against Cuba to 

 the amount of about $167,000,000, swung 

 to a favorable balance of approximately 

 $100,000,000 in the twelve months just 

 ended. 



Cuban Market for Fish 



Sending fish to Cuba might seem like 

 sending coal to Newcastle, and rightly so. 

 for, as Cuba is an island, its waters would 

 be expected to furnish her market baskets 

 with all the fish necessary. The Cubans 

 are great fish eaters but unfortunately do 

 not look to the catching of fish as a busi- 

 ness as do the Americans. 



The fish served in the hotels and res- 

 taurants and in the homes in Cuba are fish 

 from all along the Atlantic seaboard as far 

 north as the Grand Banks. 



Cuba offers an unlimited market for the 

 catches of American Atlantic coast fisher- 

 men during the winter months. For the 

 past two or three years fishermen have 

 been fishing in Florida waters, where their 

 catches have been immense and their 



