Table 2.--Balsams: U.S. imports for consumption, by kinds, by principal sources, 1964, 1967, and 1968 (Quantity in thousands of pounds; value in thousands of dollars : : Brazil, 56. Turkey, 76; Honduras, 67; United : Kingdom, 61. 121 Colombia, 83; United Kingdom, 22; : Canada, 15. 315 El Salvador, 217; Ecuador, 60; : : Nicaragua, 16; Canada, 16. Source: Compiled from official statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce. December 1969 Note.--For the statutory description, see the Tariff Schedules of the United States Annotated (TSUSA-1969). U.S. trade position Neither amber nor amberoid are produced in the United States. Insigificant quantities of amber have been imported in recent years. Comment Amber is a hard fossil resin of an extinct species of conifer. It occurs in irregularly shaped masses usually of small size but sometimes weighing up to 20 pounds. It is yellow to yellow-brown in color and is translucent. True amber is characterized by its yield of from 3 to 8 percent succinic acid and bears the mineralogical name of succinite. Though amberlike resins have been found all over the world, true amber comes only from the shores of the Baltic Sea, and in greatest amount from the glouconite sands of "blue earth" on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. Amberoid or pressed amber is made from small pieces of amber or amberlike resins, united by heat and pressure. Both amber and amberoid are used in making costume jewelry, ornamental carved objects, rosaries, cigarette holders, and pipe mouthpieces. Melted amber can also be used to make a very hard varnish. In all of these uses, however, consumption of synthetic resin materials far exceeds that of amber and amberoid. The column 1 rates of duty applicable to imports (see general headnote 3 in the TSUSA-1969) are as follows: A AMBER AND AMBEROID The tabulation above shows the column 1 rate of duty in effect prior to January 1, 1968 (the rate originally provided in the Tariff Act of 1930), and modifications therein as a result of concessions granted by the United States in the sixth round of trade negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. final (fifth) stages of the annual rate modifications are shown above Only the second and (see the TSUSA-1969 for the other stages). Imports from the Soviet Union are dutiable under column 2 at the full rate of 50 cents per pound (see general headnote 3 in the TSUSA-1969). For the small volume of dutiable imports entered in 1968, the column 1 rate of 45¢ per pound was equivalent to 5.5 percent ad valorem. For most years when the unit value of imports has been much higher, the rate has been equivalent to but one or two percent ad valorem. As amber and amberoid are not produced domestically, imports approximate consumption. During 1963-68, annual imports of amber and amberoid ranged from none in 1967 to 94 pounds in 1963 (see table). The Soviet Union has been the principal source of imports of amber and amberoid and imports from that source will continue to be dutiable at 50 cents per pound. December 1969 |