Commodity TSUS item Biscuits, cake, cakes, wafers, and similar 182.20 Note.--For the statutory description, see the Tariff Schedules of the United States Annotated (TSUSA-1969). U.S. trade position The United States produces most of the baked articles consumed domestically. Most imports are specialty products. Imports and exports are small compared with domestic production. Description and uses This summary includes puddings and practically all bakery products fit for human consumption (whether or not containing chocolate, fruit, nuts, or confectionery) made from flour with other ingredients, except for bread products leavened with yeast as the only leavening substance or ingredient (see the summary on item 182.25). Bread-type products leavened with yeast and another substance or ingredient such as baking soda or baking powder are included in this summary. The principal products covered by this summary are cakes, cookies, crackers, doughnuts, pies, other pastries, pretzels, ice cream cones, and puddings. Most are consumed as snack food or as desserts. Frozen baked products are included here if they are fully baked; frozen products which are not fully baked are classifiable as edible preparations under item 182.95. Many of the terms used for products included in this summary have varying meanings. The term biscuit, as used most frequently by the populace of the United States, refers to a soft bread product leavened with baking powder or soda and molded or cut into small round or square shapes; on the other hand, the term also refers to yeastleavened products (such as rolls and buns) provided for with other bread products in TSUS item 182.25. Furthermore, in the baking industry in the United States, the term biscuit applies to products more generally known as cookies and crackers. Although the meaning of the terms biscuits, cookies, and crackers overlap to some extent, in general, biscuits are usually used in the manner of bread products at mealtime; crackers, which ordinarily contain little sugar or other sweetening, are generally served with soups or as snacks; and cookies, usually quite sweet, are used as a snack or dessert. Wafer products December 1969 BAKERY PRODUCTS AND PUDDINGS are thin, crisp, baked articles. They are often a flat, cookie-type article filled with a sugar icing; other wafers are covered with chocolate and sold as a confection; a third wafer product is shaped into the form of a cone to be filled with ice cream. Such articles as soda crackers are sometimes referred to as wafers. Many of the products to which the term pudding is applied are not included in this summary. The puddings considered here are usually dessert products generally made from flour or other grain products with sugar, eggs, milk, fruit, and other ingredients and usually baked or boiled. Examples of other products to which the term pudding is applied include flavored starch solutions, used as a dessert; sausagelike meat products, which are usually boiled; fish puddings (provided for in items 113.05-113.15); and puddings of vegetables or vegetables and meat or fish (item 182.11). U.S. tariff treatment The column 1 rates of duty applicable to imports (see general headnote 3 in the TSUSA-1969) are as follows: The tabulation above shows the column 1 rate of duty in effect from the effective date of the TSUS on August 31, 1963, to January 1, 1968, 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. Only the second and final December 1969 BAKERY PRODUCTS AND PUDDINGS (fifth) stages of the annual rate modifications are shown above (see the TSUSA-1969 for the other stages). U.S. consumption, producers, and production U.S. consumption and production of the bakery products included herein have increased gradually for many years. Consumption averaged $2.5 billion annually in the period 1963-66 (table 1), or $0.3 billion larger than in the preceding 4-year period. Consumption increased at an average annual rate of 3.0 percent in the period 1958-66. In 1966, crackers, cookies, pretzels, and other dry bakery products accounted for about 48 percent of the manufacturer's shipments, soft cakes and pies accounted for about 27 percent, with the remaining 25 percent consisting mostly of sweet yeast goods, doughnuts, and pastries. There were 5,366 establishments producing bakery products in the United States in 1965. (This number does not include small single unit retail bakeries producing baked goods on the premises.) The bakeries included are located. throughout the country with particular concentration near the centers of population. For most of these establishments the bakery products discussed herein were virtually the only items produced. Shipments of these bakery products accounted for 97 percent of total shipments from the establishments which produced them in 1965. U.S. exports and imports U.S. exports of baked articles, which have been increasing in recent years, averaged $6.9 million annually during the period 1963-68 (table 2). Canada, Sweden, and the Bahamas have been the principal markets in recent years. Exports have consisted principally of products which are not highly perishable, such as: (1) dry baked goods such as cookies, ice cream cones, crackers, pretzels, and corn sticks; and (2) canned or moisture-proof packaged fruitcakes and nut and fruit rolls. Can Imports were relatively small, averaging about 0.5 percent of consumption annually for the 4-year period 1963-66. In the period 1963-68, imports averaged about $14.3 million (table 3), or about $6.4 million larger than those in the preceding 5-year period. ada and the United Kingdom were the principal suppliers in recent years. The imports from Canada, which more than doubled in the period 1964-68, are similar to and compete with domestic products. Such competition is focused in border areas of the Northeast and in Michigan. Imports from Europe have consisted principally of specialty biscuits, cookies, puddings, and wafers which are usually not directly competitive with the bulk of the domestic output. December 1969 Table 1.--Biscuits, cakes, wafers, and similar baked products: U.S. production, imports for consumption, exports of domestic merchandise, and apparent consumption, 1963-68 2/ Contains a small quantity of bread and bread-type rolls. 3/ Not available. Source: Compiled from official statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce. December 1969 Table 2.--Bakery products: U.S. exports of domestic merchandise, by specified markets, 1963-68 All other--------: 3,825: 3,716 : 4.428 : 5,100 : 5,428 Total--------: 12,482: 15,956: 14,336: 18,079: 17,681: 17,896 Value (1,000 dollars) 3,718 : Source: Compiled from official statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Note.--Data include exports of small quantities of bread and breadtype rolls. 228 : 168 : 155 1,613 : 2,408 : 2,464 6,387: : : : : December 1969 |