U.S. exports The United States has been on a substantial, though declining, net export basis with regard to chewing gum in recent years. In the period 1963-68, exports fluctuated within a narrow range and averaged 9.6 million pounds with a value of $5.7 million annually (table 1). The share of the domestic output that was exported during this period averaged about 2.5 percent. Exports in the preceding 5-year period 1958-62 averaged about 12.2 million pounds annually. The lower level of exports in recent years in comparison to those in 1958-62 is due largely to 3 factors: (1) The loss of the important Cuban market; (2) an increase in production in foreign countries; and (3) an increase in the price of U.S. gum relative to that in other countries. Although chewing gum is exported to many countries, the consistent principal markets have been Hong Kong, the Philippine Republic, Canada, Switzerland, and countries in Latin America. Sugar is an important constituent in chewing gum and the domestic manufacturers have used the draw-back provisions of section 313, Tariff Act of 1930, and sections 22.5 and 22.6 of Customs Regulations, with respect to foreign sugar for manufacturing for export. This enables the manufacturer of chewing gum to use imported sugar and, upon export of the chewing gum, to receive a refund of nearly all of the duty paid on the sugar. A provision of the Sugar Act of 1948, as amended, allows the purchase of foreign sugar without being subject to quota if it is to be used for products for export; this also enables chewing gum manufacturers to use sugar purchased at the lower world market prices when they are exporting gum. U.S. imports U.S. imports of chewing gum generally have been equivalent to less than 1 percent of domestic production and have consisted principally of bubblegum. In 1964-68, imports increased from 1.6 million pounds, valued at $415,000, to 7.2 million pounds, valued at $1.7 million (table 2). 1 During that period Canada supplied 75 percent of the total imports. The bulk of the imports from Canada entered at the customs district of Buffalo, New York, while those from other countries entered at New York City. Foreign production of chewing gum, although expanding in recent years, has been small in relation to that in the United States. Moreover, affiliates of U.S. producers supply an important part of the 1/ Imports of chewing gum were not separately reported prior to August 31, 1963, the effective date of the TSUS. December 1969 CHEWING GUM foreign output. In 1965, 14 concerns in Canada, the principal source of U.S. imports, produced some 23.9 million pounds of chewing gum, equivalent to 7 percent of U.S. production. In recent years, annual exports of gum from Canada to the United States have amounted to about 10 percent of Canadian output. December 1969 Total-- : 9,226 : 9,566 : 9,635 : 10,024: 9,906 : 9,094 : : : : : : Source: Compiled from official statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Note.--The table includes only consistent major markets. Some countries have been fairly large export markets but only during part of the period. 92 : 106 : 127 : 334 : 99 268 : 187 : 269 : 217 : 77 2,910 2,254: 2,115 5,639 : 6,648 : 5,316 December 1969 MACARONI, NOODLES, VERMICELLI, AND SIMILAR ALIMENTARY PASTES Note.--For the statutory description, see the Tariff Schedules of the United States Annotated (TSUSA-1969). U.S. trade position U.S. production of alimentary pastes, which amounted to 1.1 billion pounds valued at $205 million in 1963, has been increasing in recent years. Despite a doubling of the imports and a 20 percent decline in exports in 1963-68, domestic production supplied virtually all of the U.S. apparent consumption in that period. Imports in 196368 were equivalent to less than 2 percent of apparent consumption. Description and uses Alimentary pastes are foods which are made by drying formed units of dough usually made from semolina (a coarsely milled product obtained from durum wheat), durum flour, farina, other flour, or any combination thereof, with water. Alimentary pastes are starchy foods usually consumed after being cooked in water, drained, and mixed with other foods such as tomato sauce, meats, fish, or cheese. The principal forms of alimentary pastes are macaroni, spaghetti, vermicelli, and noodles. Macaroni is made in smooth, tubular forms of varying sizes and shapes. Spaghetti and vermicelli are made in solid, cordlike forms, the former having a slightly larger diameter. ribbon-shaped. Noodles are The Food and Drug Administration Standards of Identity for that class of products referred to as "macaroni and noodles" (21 CFR 16) contain labeling and ingredient requirements for such alimentary pastes. To be labeled as noodles, egg macaroni, egg spaghetti, or egg vermicelli, the product must contain not less than 5.5 percent egg or egg yolk solids by weight of the total solids weight of the product. Domestically-made alimentary pastes and those imported from such countries as Italy and Canada have been similar in type and quality; those imported from Asian countries, for instance, Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan, have consisted largely of specialty items. December 1969 |