Table 1.--Bread made with yeast as the leavening substance: U.S. 1/ Shipments of loaf bread and bread-type rolls only; does not include bread cubes and crumbs. Data on cubes and crumbs are not reported separately; they are included in a miscellaneous category of bread and related products valued at an estimated value of over $100 million in 1966. 2/ Includes small quantities of bread cubes, croutons, and other baked goods. 3/ Not separately reported. 4/ Includes bread crumbs. 5/ Estimated, based on average unit value of shipments in 1963. Not available. Source: Compiled from official statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce, except as noted. December 1969 Table 2.--Bread made with yeast as the leavening substance: U.S. imports for consumption, by major countries, 1963-68 Canada-- Sweden-------- -: : 10,577: 12,918: 16,214: 14,530: 16,202: 19,287 Total---- : 12,684: 14,861 : 18,364: 17,354: 19,749 : 23,060 : : : : : 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 Virtually all U.S. consumption of cereal breakfast foods--2.1 billion pounds in 1968--has been supplied by domestic producers. Exports, which averaged about 5 percent of domestic production during the period 1963-68, have been many times larger than imports. Description and uses The cereal breakfast foods and similar cereal preparations considered here have all been processed further than milling (oatmeal and rolled oats breakfast foods are included in the summary on items 131.25 and 131.27, vol. 1:6). Cereal breakfast foods, largely made from wheat, corn, rice, or oats but also made from other grains and other food products, are of two types: (1) those that require cooking, and (2) those that are ready-to-serve without cooking. The latter type has been almost exclusively American in use, although its popularity in Europe and elsewhere has been expanding. The cereals herein considered that require cooking are generally granular in form and those of the so-called ready-to-serve type range from granules in baby breakfast foods to flakes, shreds, puffs, and biscuits in the dry cereals. Recently, ready-to-serve cereals that are sweetened or that contain freeze-dried fruit have been introduced. Baby food cereals generally do not require cooking. U.S. tariff treatment The column rates of duty applicable to cereal breakfast foods (see general headnote 3 in the TSUSA-1969) are as follows: December 1969 CEREAL BREAKFAST FOODS Rate of duty Prior rate (rate at the end of 1967)-- 5% ad val. Concession granted by the United ence (Kennedy Round): First stage, effective January 1, 1968 1/-- 4% ad val. 2.5% ad val. 1/ The first stage rate will be in effect through December 1969. The prior rate of 5 percent ad valorem had been in effect from June 6, 1951, through the end of 1967. As a result of a concession granted by the United States in the sixth round of trade negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the duty is being reduced by 50 percent in 3 stages (see the TSUSA-1969 for the other stage). Imported cereal breakfast foods that are in chief value of manufactured sugar are subject to an additional duty of 0.53 cent per pound on the total sugar content (item 901.00, appendix to the Tariff Schedules of the United States). U.S. consumption, producers, and production During the period 1963-68, annual apparent consumption of cereal breakfast foods (supplied almost entirely by domestic producers) increased from 1.5 billion pounds to 2.1 billion pounds (table 1). This was equivalent to a per capita increase in consumption of nearly 25 percent. The proportionate consumption of ready-to-serve cereals has continued to increase in recent years at the expense of the cereals requiring cooking. The current annual per capita use of ready-toserve and cooked cereals is estimated at about 6 pounds and 1 pound, respectively. An increase in the consumption of ready-to-serve cereals is likely to continue. Moreover, the numerous new cereals with added ingredients on the market encourage a wider acceptance. During 1963-68 U.S. production of cereal breakfast foods increased from 1.6 billion to 2.1 billion pounds annually. The most In 1963, popular cereal breakfast foods have been made of wheat. cereals containing wheat accounted for 42 percent of the output, followed by those with corn (25 percent), rice (15 percent), and oats (13 percent); the remaining 5 percent of the output was mostly of baby food cereals and preparations of mixed grains. thirds of the wheat breakfast foods were of the ready-to-serve type. More than two December 1969 Cereal breakfast foods were the primary products of many of the 49 establishments with such production in 1963. However, many of these establishments are affiliated with concerns that have interests in a number of enterprises. Three firms having several plants account for about four-fifths of the domestic output. The bulk of the production has been in the North-central States; Michigan has been the principal producing State. U.S. exports The United States is a substantial net exporter of cereal breakfast foods. In the period 1963-68, annual exports averaged 49.2 million pounds compared with 15.3 million pounds in the preceding 5-year period. The bulk of the unusually large exports in recent years has consisted of wheat cereals requiring cooking. U.S. exports go to many countries; generally, Latin America has been the largest market (table 2). U.S. imports U.S. imports of cereal breakfast foods have been negligible compared to domestic production. In the period 1963-67, imports increased annually from 888,000 to 3.7 million pounds; in 1968 they amounted to 3.3 million pounds. In recent years the bulk of the imports have come from Switzerland and Canada (table 3). The sharply higher level of imports in 1965-68 over those in earlier years reflected: (1) shipments of a ready-to-serve cereal made in Canada by a branch of a U.S. concern, and (2) imports of distinctive breakfast foods containing dried fruits and nuts, from Switzerland. A large part of the cereals imported in recent years have contained sweeteners or other specialty ingredients and the average unit value of the imports has increased accordingly. The consumption of imports has been limited in a market dominated by a few domestic firms which produce almost every imaginable type of breakfast food. The United States is, by far, the world's largest producer of cereal breakfast foods. Production in Canada, currently the only potential source of significant imports, has been equivalent to about a tenth of the U.S. output in recent years. A large share of the output in that country has been by affiliates of U.S. producers. December 1969 |