U.S. Production

Protective footwear

Official data on production of waterproof footwear (which is believed to be mostly "protective" footwear) are available only for the years for which the U.S. Census of Manufactures is published. The 1967 Census of Manufactures (the latest available) shows the product breakdown of production and shipments of waterproof footwear (in SIC 3021) for 1963 and 1967 as follows:

Annual data on U.S. shipments of waterproof footwear are available from the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA)--a trade association of firms reporting to Census under SIC No. 3021. These data show that such shipments (principally protective footwear of rubber made by the conventional method) declined from 31 million pairs in 1956 to 28 million pairs in 1960, to 23 million pairs in 1964, and to about 20 million pairs in 1969. This downward trend is a result, in part, of increased urbanization, better roads, and increased use of automobiles; it apparently also is a result of a shift away from vulcanized protective footwear to protective footwear of plastics.

The above statistics are believed to include increasing amounts of footwear of polyvinyl chloride plastics (PVC), production of which was initiated in the 1950's. Such footwear is made principally by the slush-molding process described earlier, which does not require the footwear to be cured in vulcanizers--a relatively slow process. The bulk of the shipments of PVC footwear in recent years are believed to have consisted of arctics and gaiters made by firms (not RMA members) that report to Census under SIC No. 3079 (miscellaneous plastics products). 1/ The value of shipments of PVC footwear so reported increased from $10 million in 1964 to $18 million in 1966 and to $26 million in 1968 (data are not available for 1969). It is estimated that domestic production of PVC protective footwear by non RMA firms amounted to about 6 million pairs in 1964, 11 million pairs in 1966,

1/ Produced by establishments primarily engaged in molding primary plastics for the trade and fabricating miscellaneous finished plastics

and 15 million pairs in 1968; these estimates are included in the

figures on domestic producers' shipments shown in the section on con

sumption.

Canvas footwear

U.S. production of canvas footwear increased without interruption from 88 million pairs in 1960 to 166 million pairs in 1965. Production then declined to 153 million pairs in 1967, and further to an estimated 132 million pairs in 1969. The value of production in 1969 was about $250 million.

The following tabulation shows for the years 1967-69 the U.S. production of canvas footwear, by types, and the total shipments of such footwear from Puerto Rico to the United States (in thousands of

Official statistics are not available on the U.S. production of

footwear which resembles in style and general appearance (but not in quality) the folding slippers and scuffs that comprise a substantial part of the non-ASP imports admitted under item 700.60. U.S. production of folding slippers was estimated at 55 million pairs in 1969, compared to 30 million pairs a few years earlier; annual imports of

and 700.55), were estimated at 10 to 15 million pairs. 1/

U.S. Imports

Protective footwear

During 1950-54, when most imports were dutiable at 12.5 percent of the ASP (the concession rate on footwear with an ASP value of $12 or more per dozen pairs), estimated annual imports of protective footwear were rising; they amounted to nearly 500,000 pairs in 1954. From about 1958 to 1965, imports consisted largely of footwear of synthetic rubber or plastics that was subject to a rate of 12.5 percent of the "normal" (rather than ASP) valuation (see discussion in tariff section). Entries reached an estimated 3 million pairs in 1958 and rose to 15 million pairs in 1961, and averaged about 13 million pairs during 196365. In 1966, the first year that most imports were subject to a rate of 37.5 percent ad valorem (rather than 12.5 percent), entries declined to 9 million pairs. During 1967-69, annual imports ranged from 11 million to 13 million pairs, as shown in the following tabulation (in millions of pairs):

The volume of U.S. imports of protective footwear by tariff rates,

is shown in table 2 for the years 1964-69.

In recent years, about 90 percent of the annual imports of protective footwear have been admitted under TSUS item 700.53. Such imports have consisted principally of boots for hunting, fishing, and other activities requiring heavy-duty footwear and have included substantial quantities of galoshes. Imports of boots admitted under item 700.53 increased from 6 million pairs in 1966 to nearly 10 million pairs in 1969. The Republic of Korea, Japan, and Republic of China (Taiwan) have been the principal suppliers of such footwear (table 3). In 1969 Korea supplied nearly 40 percent (in terms of quantity) of the total imports of protective footwear; Japan, 25 percent; and Taiwan 20 percent.

The share of estimated U.S. consumption of protective footwear supplied by imports was 30 percent in 1965 and 25 percent in each of the years 1968 and 1969 (see the tabulation on p. A-22). Because a considerably larger share of the imports than of the domestic producers' shipments consist of the type of protective footwear produced at the plants concerned here, the foregoing ratios appear to understate the import penetration of the U.S. market for such footwear.

Canvas footwear

Because of the various innovations in construction designed to avoid assessment of the duty on an ASP valuation (see tariff treatment section of this report), the official statistics on imports of canvas footwear, especially during the 1950's and early 1960's, understate the volume of imports of such footwear. During 1950-54, estimated an