Antipasto: U.S. imports for consumption, by country, 1963-68

Italy----- : 212,245 :

Spain--------:

4,020 :

14,134 : 34,592

6,562 :

199,226 : 173,376: 208,266 : 199,927: 232,707. 6,598 : 10,865: 39,963: 3,593 : 14,750 : 7,451 : 363: 1/ 3,519: 338: 1,584 :

Yugoslavia---: 7,188 :

Other----- :

:

661

Total----: 223,816 : 1/ 212,936 : 199,329 : 257,264 : 220,623 : 267,960

1/ Total does not include a 34,840 pound entry valued at $4,007 from Canada that was misclassified.

Source: Commerce.

Compiled from official statistics of the U.S. Department of

December 1969

Note.--For the statutory description, see the Tariff Schedules of the United States Annotated (TSUSA-1969).

U.S. trade position

U.S. consumption of hash, principally beef hash, has been supplied almost entirely by domestic production; U.S. imports have been negligible.

Comment

This summary includes a group of miscellaneous food products for human consumption including food pastes, balls, hash, puddings, and similar forms, composed of vegetables, or of vegetables, meat, fish (including shellfish), or any combination thereof. Thus, the products here are in chief value of vegetables, of vegetables and meat or fish, or of vegetables, meat, and fish. In judicial and administrative determinations, it has been held that the quantity of vegetables, meat, or fish necessary for the imported product to be classified under the language of the two provisions here is a "substantial" quantity. Many of the articles under consideration here consist of specialty items principally for food connoisseurs and foreign-born persons, with some of the articles being dishes for persons of Asiatic ancestry.

The balls included in this summary are usually ball-shaped mixtures of ground meat, vegetables, and spices. So-called meat balls or patties are included here if they contain a substantial quantity of vegetables; however, the bulk of the domestic production probably does not contain such a quantity of vegetables and is considered to be a meat product. Hash and pastes differ principally in the size of the ingredient particles, with the pastes being finely ground and hash consisting of more coarsely ground or cut particles. At the present time, the term pudding is not ordinarily used to apply to products made of vegetables or vegetables and meat and/or fish; previously, the term was apparently used to apply to products such as a sausagelike product made of a piece of intestine stuffed with seasoned chopped meat and boiled. The products considered here are usually in the canned or frozen form, but such products in a fresh or cooked form are also included here.

December 1969

Corned beef hash is the most important product herein considered (from the standpoint of domestic production and consumption). Under Federal meat inspection regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Sec. 328.2, Consumer and Marketing Service, Service and Regulatory Announcement 188), both domestic and imported corned beef hash must contain a minimum of 35 percent meat (the other ingredients consist mostly of potatoes, with some onion and seasonings). The imported corned beef hash is similar to the domestic product in both type and quality. U.S. imports of roast beef hash (included in item 182.11) have been negligible. Imports of the other articles usually differ in ingredients and flavoring from domestic products and are not generally considered to be competitive with domestic articles.

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 rates of duty in effect. from August 31, 1963 (the effective date of the TSUS) 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 (fifth) stages of the annual rate modifications are shown above (see the TSUSA-1969 for the other stages).

In the period 1963-68, U.S. production and consumption of canned corned beef hash averaged about 78 million pounds annually; the out-put of beef hash (other than corned beef) is sizable, but considerably smaller than that of corned beef hash. The production and consumption: of the products other than beef hash appear to be small. In 1963 about 45 concerns produced beef hash; 12 of these produced nearly

December 1969.

three-fourths of the total output. Generally, domestic producers manufacture a variety of meat products in addition to hash.

U.S. exports have been negligible relative to domestic output; data on annual exports are not separately reported. U.S. imports of beef hash have been insignificant because canned beef (item 107.50) is dutiable at a lower rate than hash. In recent years, imported canned corned beef has been used in substantial quantities to produce corned beef hash in the United States; in 1968 about three-fourths of the corned beef hash produced in the United States was made from imported corned beef. During 1961-66 imports of corned beef hash were negligible; in 1967 and 1968 the imports of corned beef hash were valued at $75,000 and $130,000, respectively. Inasmuch as Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay have supplied the bulk of the imports of canned beef in recent years, these countries are the potential large foreign sources of beef hash. In the period 1963-68, the value of U.S. imports of the specialty products considered here ranged from only $7,000 to $23,000 annually. The principal suppliers were Spain, Portugal, Japan, and Italy.

December 1969