THE CUBA REVIEW 



Import Tariff 



The office of the Commercial Attache 

 at Havana advises that, in view of the 

 preoccupation of the Cuban Administra- 

 tion with other problems, the proposed 

 revision of the Cuban tariff will probably 

 not be carried through for some time to 

 come. While it was expected that the 

 special Tariff Commission would report 

 the results of its hearings to the Cuban 

 Legislature on March 15, the Commission 

 had covered only one out of the 13 classes 

 of the tariff schedule by that date, and 

 requested a considerable extension of time. 

 In the meanwhile internal developments in 

 Cuba had taken such a turn that it now 

 seems likely that serious consideration of 

 the tariff measure will be suspended for 

 a considerable period. 



Soap Manufacture in Cuba 



Approximately 60 per cent of the soap 

 manufactured in Cuba consists of yellow 

 laundry soap, about 10 per cent is per- 

 fumed toilet soap, and the bulk of the 

 remaining 30 per cent is of the white 

 floating variety. 



Tallow used in the manufacture of the 

 yellow soap is either bought locally or 

 imported from Argentina or the United 

 States. The larger part comes from the 

 United States. Grease used in the manu- 

 facture of this soap is imported in tank 

 cars from various parts of the United 

 States via the Florida East Coast Railway, 

 and to a less extent is purchased from 

 domestic slaughterhouses. 



The perfumed toilet soap is made from 

 the best grades of imported oils and fats. 

 Practically all material entering into the 

 manufacture of this soap is imported. The 

 white soap is made principally from coco- 

 nut, cottonseed, and other vegetable oils, 

 practically all of which are imported. 



There is a movement on foot to increase 

 the tariff protection on soap, especially on 

 perfumed toilet soaps in solid or liquid 

 form. In view of the 40 per cent tariff 

 preferential in favor of American soaps 

 of this class, it is predicted that such an 

 increase in the duties would stop the im- 

 portation of European perfumed toilet 

 soaps. 



Jewelry Marketing Methods 



Correspondence with Cuban customers 

 should, whenever possible, be undertaken 

 in Spanish, even though many Cuban 

 firms have employees who understand Eng- 

 lish. Payments for small orders of jewelry 

 are usually made either through cash or 

 sight drafts, whereas large orders are 

 placed generally on prices quoted c. i. f. or 

 f. 0. b. on a credit basis of 30 to 00 days. 

 Practically all jewelry is shipped by mail. 

 On the rare occasions when the package is 

 too large it is sent by freight. Cost of 

 transportation by express is so great that 

 this form of shipment is never used. — Vice- 

 Consul James V. Whitfield, Matanzas. 



Market for Men's Neckties 



The market for mens' neckties in Cuba 

 is especially strong, popular prices ranging 

 from $1.75 to $2.50. On the whole the 

 United States holds the leading position 

 in this field, although an appreciable num- 

 ber of neckties have recently been im- 

 ported from Italy and some are manu- 

 factured locally. Sales are made to the 

 stores by traveling salesmen from the 

 United States or by local wholesale houses 

 that carry stocks. In many cases the 

 larger retail stores buy direct from Amer- 

 ican manufacturers. 



Demand for Buttons 



There is a good market for buttons in 

 Cuba. This is due to the fact that, al- 

 though a considerable quantity of ready- 

 made clothing is imported, a still larger 

 amount is made up on the island. Besides 

 the larger wholesale firms which carry but- 

 tons, a number of department stores im- 

 port their suppHes direct. 



Imports of Coal 



The imports of coal through Habana 

 during the year 1922 aggregated 394,510 

 long tons, as compared with 447,936 tons 

 in the preceding year, 686,318 tons in 1920, 

 737,141 tons in 1919, 964,682 tons in 1918, 

 and 947,612 tons in 1917. The falling off 

 in recent years is attributed to the in- 

 creased use of oil as fuel for locomotives 

 and cane-grinding mills. 



