U.S. tariff treatment

The column 1 rates of duty applicable to imports (see general headnote 3 in the TSUSA-1968) of crude or processed wild rice (TSUS item 182.70) are as follows:

The tabulation above shows the column 1 rate 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 (GATT).

Item 182.70 was established by Public Law No. 89-241, effective December 7, 1965; the 5 percent rate of duty which that law established was the same rate as that applied to wild rice before the TSUS became effective on August 31, 1963, and reflected a GATT concession effective May 22, 1948. Before the TSUS, wild rice was classified under paragraph 1558 of the previous schedules of the Tariff Act of 1930 as a raw or unmanufactured article not specially provided for (C.D. 751, 1943). Following establishment of the TSUS on August 31, 1963, it was administratively determined that wild rice was classified under TSUS item 130.55 as brown rice (T.D. 56124(9)) with a duty of 1.5 cents per pound, equivalent to 0.8 percent ad valorem in 1964. Establishment of the 5 percent rate of duty on December 7, 1965 under the new provision, item 182.70, restored the duty treatment of wild rice to that applicable before the establishment of the TSUS.

U.S. consumption

U.S. consumption of wild rice varies widely year to year with fluctuations in supply and price. In the period 1963-68, apparent annual consumption of processed wild rice ranged from 0.4 million pounds to 1.5 million pounds. Retail prices have ranged from $2.50 to over $5.00 per pound in recent years. A large part of the wild rice consumed is mixed with brown rice and sold at lower prices than would be possible, for wild rice alone, allowing the packer to stretch. the limited supply of wild rice over a greater sales volume.

U.S. producers and production

Virtually all of the wild rice harvested in the United States is produced on natural stands in northern Minnesota. Harvesting there is regulated by the State Conservation Department and all harvesters

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must be licensed. In the period 1963-68, an annual average of 12,000 wild rice harvester licenses were issued while the number of wild rice dealer licenses issued ranged from 200 to 356. Most of the harvesting is done by Indians. Small amounts are also harvested in Wisconsin and Michigan. Several attempts have been made to domesticate the

crop, but thus far all attempts have failed.

U.S. production of wild rice fluctuates widely from year to year with changes in weather conditions. In 1963-68, estimated annual production ranged from 370,000 pounds to 1.3 million pounds (processed weight). The price received by wild rice harvesters has ranged from 20 to 90 cents per pound of unprocessed rice in recent years, with the average being about 35 cents per pound.

The number of processors of wild rice is not known, but is believed to be small. These small plants, located principally in Minnesota, operate seasonally for a few weeks in the fall during the harvest. Wild rice is the only product produced by most of these processors.

U.S. exports and imports

U.S. exports of wild rice are not separately reported but are believed to be negligible. Annual U.S. imports of wild rice from Canada, the only foreign supplier, ranged from 53,000 pounds, valued at $258,000, to 449,000 pounds, valued at $968,000 in the period 1963-68. Approximately 70 percent of the world supply of wild rice is produced in the United States and the remainder in Canada. Imports depend more on the size of the domestic crop and the availability of supplies in Canada than on price.

Most of the wild rice imported into the United States enters in bulk form, usually following drying, roasting, and grading. Some enters in retail packages of a few ounces, and some is imported in the green or unprocessed form.

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Wild rice: U.S. production, imports for consumption, and apparent consumption, 1963-68

1/ U.S. import statistics for years prior to 1966 are not available. Data represent Canadian exports to the United States. Value has been converted to U.S. dollars at the following rates: 1963, $0.927005; 1964, $0.926963; and 1965, $0.92743.

Source: Production estimated; import data for 1963-65 compiled from official export statistics of Canada, and that for 1966-68 from official statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Note.--U.S. exports are not separately reported, but are believed to be negligible.

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Other (not including wheat gluten)---- 182.95 (pt.)

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

U.S. trade position

The United States is a net importer of the edible preparations in the group covered by this summary. In recent years, butterfatsugar mixtures comprised the bulk of such imports but have now been made subject to import quota limitations proclaimed under section 22 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act and the Sugar Act of 1948. U.S. imports and exports of other edible preparations in the group have been small in relation to domestic production.

Description and uses

This summary includes all edible preparations not provided for under other item numbers in the tariff schedules except for wheat gluten which, though provided for under item 182.95, is discussed in a separate summary. The term "edible preparations" in items 182.90 to 182.95 embraces only substances prepared and chiefly used as a human food or as an ingredient in such food, but the term does not include any substance provided for in schedule 4 (except part 2E thereof) or schedule 5 (except part 1K thereof) of the tariff schedules.

Edible preparations in chief value of gelatin (item 182.90) are principally dessert powders which are dissolved in water before being chilled and served. Most of the gelatin dessert powders contain a fruit flavoring, but some unflavored gelatin powder preparations are also used as food. Edible gelatin as such is provided for under items 455.16, 455.18, and 455.20, and is included in a separate sum

mary.

Butterfat-sugar mixtures, the principal imports under item 182.92, are used to replace part of the cream in the manufacture of ice cream. These mixtures have much the appearance of butter. They are solids at

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room temperature but become thick oily liquids at higher temperatures. These mixtures are ordinarily considered to be dairy products but are not such for tariff purposes since there is no provision in the dairy schedule for these products. For tariff purposes they are not butter substitutes (item 116.30) because they contain sugar; nor are these products "malted milk, and articles not specially provided for, of milk or cream" under item 118.30 because milk or cream derivatives and not milk or cream as such are used in their manufacture. The packaging and the labeling itself is not sufficient to establish that a product is "packaged for retail sale" and not within item 182.92; in addition, satisfactory evidence is required showing that the packages are in fact chiefly used in the retail trade (T.D. 69-24).

A wide range of products is covered under item 182.95. Because of the residual character of the class, the following list of products cannot be definitive but is illustrative of the scope of the provision. The principal products in this category include individually packaged prepared meals; rice gluten; canned meat or fish mixed with vegetables; hydrolized vegetable protein used as food flavoring; ingredient mixtures for making various baked foods; crackers with cheese filling; beef bone stock; specialty items such as chocolate-covered ants, bees, and grasshoppers, salted melon and pumpkin seeds, and sugarcane in airtight containers; blended food products such as mixtures of gelatinized cornmeal with soy flour, nonfat dry milk, and vitamins and minerals; frozen unbaked bread dough; unbaked pastry; frozen pizza pies; instant tea mixed with sugar and lemon; instant coffee mixed with sugar and a whitening agent; popsicles; milk sherbet; ice cream sandwiches; ice cream covered with a confectionery coating; confectionery coating made of sugar, skim milk powder, and vegetable fat when the ingredient of chief value is vegetable fat; prefried cereal breading when bread itself does not come into existence in any stage of manufacture; dessert topping in aerosol cans when the ingredient of chief value is not milk or cream; soybean protein concentrate used for enriching other foods; egg rolls; shrimp chop suey; shrimp fried rice; shrimp egg foo yung; and salt flavored with onion, garlic, celery, smoke, or other substances.

Butterfat-sugar mixtures, which usually contain about 44 percent butterfat and 56 percent sugar, are not produced in the United States for commercial sale. As articles of commerce, they are supplied entirely by imports. Trade has developed in such products in part because U.S. prices for butterfat have at times been much higher than prices in other countries, mainly as the result of U.S. price-support programs, and in part because imports of milk, cream, and butterfat as such or in certain combinations have been subject either to import quota limitations or, in effect, an embargo (zero quotas).

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