- 6 - 



Philippines. Imports in recent years have been far less then prewar, ranging 

 from about 20 million to some 30 million cigars annually. Cuba has supplanted 

 the Philippines as our principal supplier. In I960, imports for consumption 

 totaled about 32 million cigars, valued at $4-7 million. Cuba furnished about 

 23-1/2 million, nearly three-fourths of the total, while the Philippine Repub- 

 lic supplied about 5-1/ 2 million, or approximately a sixth. Nearly 2 million 

 cigars came from the Netherlands, far more than in prewar years. (See appendix 

 table 2k.) 



Cigars imported from Cuba are considered to be of high quality and often 

 retail singly at 25 to 50 cents or higher. Cigars imported from other sources 

 fall predominantly in the k.l to 6 cents class and in the 8.1 to 15 cents class. 



The current duty on cigars imported from Cuba is $1.27 cents per pound 

 plus 8-1/2 percent ad valorem. For other countries, except the Philippine Re- 

 public, the duty is $1.91 cents per pound plus 10-l/2 percent ad valorem. The 

 Philippine Trade Agreement Revision Act, approved August 1, 1955* established a 

 basic duty-free quota of 200 million cigars for importation into the United 

 States from the Philippines, the duty-free quota to decline according to a speci- 

 fied schedule until it reached zero by January 1, 197^* For 1959-61, the duty- 

 free quota is 180 million cigars; for 1962-64, it will be 160 million. The num- 

 ber of cigars imported from the Philippines in recent years has been far less 

 than the duty-free quota. For cigars imported from Cuba, the average duty in 

 the year ended June 30, 1961 was close to k cents per cigar. This is on the 

 basis of an average import value of close to 19 cents each, and an average weight 

 of about 58 cigars per pound (17«3 pounds per 1,000 cigars). 



Census of Manufactures Data 



The most recent Census of Manufactures covered operations in the calen- 

 dar year 1958. Selected data from this census, with comparisons, are shown in 

 appendix table 8 for the establishments located in the United States (compris- 

 ing domestic factories and customs bonded manufacturing warehouses), and' in ap- 

 pendix table 9 for establishments in Puerto Rico. 



In 1958, cigar manufacturers on the mainland shipped a total output valued 

 at $355 million. Seventeen factories, each employing 500 or more workers, ac- 

 counted for 52 percent of the total value of shipments; 66 factories, with 50 

 to 499 workers each, accounted for kk percent; and 79 factories, with 5 to k9 

 employees each, accounted for most of the remaining k percent. 



The total number of employees in 1958 was over 29,000, and the total pay- 

 roll of the reporting factories was nearly $82 million. In i960, the average 

 number of employees in the cigar manufacturing industry was 25,500* This is 

 about a third lower than 6 years earlier; the downtrend mainly reflects the 

 saving of labor as the result of new techniques for preparing tobacco and im- 

 provements in engineering. The development of reconstituted sheet tobacco for 

 use in binding cigars was a major factor in reducing the number of workers re- 

 quired for cigar -making machines. 



The cost of materials, parts, containers and supplies consumed was near 

 $168 million, with an additional $2-1/2 million for cost of electricity, fuels 



