ENUMERATED, CRUDE OR PROCESSED (EXCEPT BROOMCORN) Commodity TSUS item Straws and other fibrous vegetable substances not Flax straw--- Rice straw and fiber-. Other- Note.--For the statutory description, see the Tariff Schedules of the United States Annotated (TSUSA-1969). U.S. trade position Almost all of the U.S. domestic consumption of the straws and fibrous vegetable substances included in this summary (except flax straw) is supplied from imports. U.S. exports of these straws and fibers are estimated to be small or negligible. Comment Imports of items included in this summary consist primarily of tropical and semitropical vegetable fibers which are chiefly used in the manufacture of brushes and brooms. These vegetable fibers are to be distinguished from the vegetable fibers provided for under Schedule 3 (Textile Fibers and Textile Products) of the TSUS, the latter being those which can be spun, including those chiefly used for padding and stuffing (see headnote 1(a) to part 1B, schedule 3 of the TSUS). Straw, except for flax and rice straw, is specially provided for in TSUS item 184.35. Flax straw (item 192.60) is from a temperate zone plant and is used in the United States mostly in making cigarette paper. Istle or ixtle (if crude, item 192.65; if processed, item 192.70), usually called Tampico fiber, is produced in Mexico in the region around Monterrey. It is obtained from the leaves of several uncultivated native cactus plants. Tula and Jaumave istle are used after processing (cleaning, combing, grading), principally as bristles in a variety of high quality articles ranging from toilet brushes to industrial brushes and brooms. Patent or polished istle, which is made from selected and specially cleaned and polished Jaumave, is mixed with horsehair and used in the production of some painters' dusting brushes. December 1969 ENUMERATED, CRUDE OR PROCESSED (EXCEPT BROOMCORN) Rice straw and rice fiber (item 192.75) have been used in the past as cheap filler in domestically produced brooms when broomstraw was expensive, but there have been no significant imports since 1939. Imports are subject to Plant Quarantine No. 55 (7 CFR 319.55) which requires sterilization before entry. Among the vegetable fibers included under the provisions for other straws and fibrous vegetable substances, crude or processed (TSUS items 192.80 and 192.85), are sotol, broom root, and palm fibers such as raffia, palmyra, bassine, bass or piassava, and palmetto. Sotol also termed yucca, bear grass and palmilla, is obtained from a wild cactus found in northern Mexico, Arizona, and New Mexico. It is used as a cheap filler in broom corn brooms. During the period 1964-67 imports of sotol averaged about 3,300 short tons annually under item 192.85. Broom root, which is also known as Mexican broom root, Mexican whisk, bunch grass, or rice root, is obtained from the stiff, crinkly fibrous roots of a large bunch grass which grows wild in Mexico. In the United States it is used primarily in the production of curry brushes for horses. Raffia (sometimes spelled raphia) consists of thin fibrous strips obtained from the cuticle or surface structure of the leaves of several species of the palm tree raphia, principally from Raphia ruffia. These palms grow wild along river banks or near the sea on both the east and west coasts of Africa, in Madagascar, and in Brazil. Local workers pull thin sections of fibrous materials from the leaves. These sections are flat and straw colored, about 1/2 inch to 1 inch wide and from 3 to 4 feet long, and are divided with a comb-like instrument into strips of the desired width. Raffia is used in the crude form as imported, principally by florists and gardeners for tying up vines and other plants, for tree- or plant-grafting purposes, and for tying small bundles, bunches, or packages. It is also consumed in the United States in the manufacture of simulated grass mats, which are used mostly for decorative purposes (see summary on TSUS item 222.34 and 222.62). Palmyra is obtained from the palmyra palm indigenous to Ceylon and Eastern India. The so-called palymra stalk cane, actually the coarse rib of the leaf, is used for street brooms, rotary sweepers, and other heavy-duty brooms. Palmyra fiber, which comes from the fibrous petiole at the base of the leaf stem, is used principally for scrub brushes and other industrial brushes and brooms. Better grade palmyra fiber that has been dyed a dark brown or black is ordinarily It is used in an even wider range of brushes than is palmyra, though in lesser quantities. known as bassine. December 1969 ENUMERATED, CRUDE OR PROCESSED (EXCEPT BROOMCORN) The terms bass and piassava apply to the petiole fibers from a number of African and Brazilian palms. Among the more important types of African bass are Sulima bass, which is used in industrial and domestic heavy-duty brooms, Sherbro bass, which is slightly smoother and more uniform in fiber than Sulima bass and which is used in punching work and for blending with Sulima bass to improve the texture, and Calabar bass, a dark brown, flexible fiber which is used in the roller brushes of automatic road sweepers. The terms "piassave" or "piassaba" used alone usually refer to Brazilian piassava which is generally of higher quality than African piassava. Piassava fiber is used mainly for large-sized street and floor brooms and household and industrial brushes. It is also often mixed with other fibers for smaller brushes. Palmetto is obtained from a large fan palm that grows wild in Florida and the Caribbean. It is used for animal scrub brushes, fine floor brushes and whiskbrooms. The column 1 rates of duty applicable to imports (see general headnote 3 in the TSUSA-1969) are as follows: 1 Rate of duty not affected by the trade conference. 2/ Duty suspended since Sept. 5, 1957, by recurring temporary legislation (see item 903.90 of the appendix to the TSUSA-1969). 3/ "Ton" means 2,240 pounds; "short ton" means 2,000 pounds. The tabulation above shows the column 1 rates of duty in effect prior 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 (that in effect during 1969) and final stages of the five annual rate modifications are shown above (see the TSUSA-1969 for the other stages). During the period from August 31, 1963, when the TSUS became effective, to December 31, 1967, the prior rates shown above did not change. The ad valorem equivalent of the specific rate of duty was not calculated for items 192.60 and 192.75 because there have been no imports in recent years. It is estimated that in recent years, about 150,000 tons of flax straw has been sold annually by U.S. flax seed growers for making cigarette paper and other fine papers. This flax straw, which is a byproduct of flax seed growing, had an estimated annual farm value of slightly over $500,000. Most of this straw was produced in the Dakotas and Minnesota. Some palmetto fiber, probably less than half a million pounds annually, is produced in Florida and a small quantity of sotol may be produced in New Mexico and Arizona. December 1969 ENUMERATED, CRUDE OR PROCESSED (EXCEPT BROOMCORN) With the exception of flax straw and palmetto fiber, most of the various types of straws and fibrous vegetable substances included in this summary are supplied almost entirely from imports, which averaged about 34 million pounds and $6 million for the period 1964-68 (see table). Aside from istle imports of 4,000 to 6,000 tons annually, the import total is made up almost entirely of fibers in the "other" categories, TSUS items 192.80 and 192.85. Chief among these are the processed substances--palmyra stalks, palmyra fiber, and bassine-from India of about 3,000 tons and processed sotol from Mexico at about 3,000 tons. Other imported fibers reported in TSUS items 192.80 and 192.85 are crude African piassava at about 2,000 tons; crude and processed Brazilian piassava at about 1,000 tons; and several hundred tons of crude raffia, mostly from the Malagasy Republic. Crude broom or rice root imports, all of which came from Mexico, are relatively unimportant at probably not more than 50 tons annually. There have been infrequent imports of flax straw from Canada. The higher unit value for crude fibers, not specially provided for, than for the processed fibers rests primarily on the fact that crude piassava is considerably more expensive than processed sotol. Exports of the various straws and fibrous vegetable substances included herein are not separately reported but are estimated to be negligible in relation to imports. Some palmetto is exported and there are some exports of imported fibers. December 1969 |