Printed matter not elsewhere enumerated----- 270.15, 274.73, Note.--For the statutory description, see the Tariff Schedules of the United States Annotated (TSUSA-1969). U.S. trade position U.S. consumption of the items covered by this summary is almost wholly supplied by domestic production. Annual U.S. exports, which are much greater than imports, account for about 1 percent of U.S. production. Description and uses The items considered here constitute a large basket provision of printed matter, not elsewhere enumerated in the TSUS; these items consist mainly of textual or pictorial matter produced by any type of printing process. In general, this summary covers items which are produced by commercial or job printing firms on a specific order basis, although some products are marketed independently. Typical of the articles discussed here are advertising matter, display material, posters, letterheads, legal documents, and certain business forms including manifold business forms. Manifold business forms are special forms for use in the operation of a business, in single and multiple sets, including carbonized or interleaved with carbon paper or otherwise processed for multiple reproduction. Also included in this summary are international custom documents, commonly referred to as carnets (item 270.15); these documents serve simultaneously as custom entry forms and as custom bonds. The basket provision of the printed matter discussed here falls into three major groups: (1) Printed matter for use in the production of books which if imported would be free of duty (item 274.73); (2) lithographically printed matter not for use in the production of such duty-free books (items 274.75 and 274.80, according to thickness of paper); and (3) printed matter, other than lithographically printed, and not for use in the production of duty-free books (items 274.85 and 274.90, depending on susceptibility of authorship). Item 274.85 covers printed matter susceptible of authorship, requiring the work of an author and must be something that is more or less the product of mental activity as distinguished from that which is purely mechanical, such as stereotyped descriptive phrases provided for under item 274.90. Item 274.90 covers printed matter not susceptible of authorship and includes, among other things, a miscellaneous assortment of October 1969 PRINTED MATTER NOT ELSEWHERE ENUMERATED signs and placards, usually with stereotyped texts, such as are used for giving warnings, advertising realty, etc., which, although expressing complete thoughts, are not ordinarily associated with particular authors or with the principle of authorship. U.S. tariff treatment The following are brief commodity descriptions for the TSUS items covered by this summary: International customs forms are free of duty under item 270.15 of the TSUS. This provision was entered into force March 3, 1969, by virtue of Public Law 90-635 and Presidential Proclamation 3886. Printed matter not elsewhere enumerated for use in the production of duty-free books is also free of duty under item 274.73. This provision became effective February 1, 1967, by virtue of Public Law 89-651 and Presidential Proclamation 3754, which implemented the United Nations Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Materials (commonly referred to as the Florence Agreement). The duty-free status for item 274.73 was bound as a concession granted under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in the sixth (Kennedy) round of negotiations. Printed matter for use in the production of duty-free books had previously been dutiable at various rates under the provisions of TSUS items 274.75, -.90. October 1969 The column 1 rates of duty applicable to imports of all other printed matter not elsewhere enumerated (items 274.75, -90), effective January 1 of the years 1968-72, are as follows: These rates represent the five stages of concessions granted by the United States in the sixth (Kennedy) round of trade negotiations under the GATT. The final concession rates of duty will become effective January 1, 1972, as shown above. The rates of duty under the TSUS applicable to these commodities prior to January 1, 1968, were as follows: Based on imports in 1968, the average ad valorem equivalents of the rates of duty for items 274.75 and 274.80, in that year, were 9.8 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively. U.S. consumption and production More than 99 percent of U.S. consumption is annually supplied by domestic output. Data are not available on the production of all the articles included here. However, it is estimated that in 1968 the value of U.S. consumption and production accounted for well over $4 billion, and has steadily risen in recent years at about 6 percent per year. This upward trend appears to continue through 1969 and is mainly attributable to increasing demand for advertising and informational printed matter, as well as to the growth in the use of computers and other automatic data processing equipment. Consumption and production of lithographically printed matters alone accounted for about one-half of all products covered by this summary. October 1969 PRINTED MATTER NOT ELSEWHERE ENUMERATED Domestic producers of the articles here considered include lithographic, letterpress, gravure, flexographic, and screen printing establishments. Producers of manifold business forms engage primarily in designing and printing--by any printing process--these types of articles. In 1967, there were in the United States 6,820 lithographic printing establishments, 12,100 other printing establishments, and 541 establishments that specialized in the production of manifold business forms. The larger size concerns are located mainly in the Northeastern and East North Central States, while the others are at widely scattered locations throughout the United States. Most producers of the items covered by this summary--except producers of manifold business forms-also manufacture other products, not covered here, such as calendars, labels, pictures, greeting cards, and postcards. U.S. exports and imports Official U.S. export statistics are not comparable to those of U.S. imports. According to estimates, however, the value of U.S. exports of items covered here amounted to well over $35 million in 1968, of which about 40 percent was accounted for by advertising printed matter. These exports remained rather stable during the last 5 years. About one-third of annual U.S. exports of the miscellaneous printed matter discussed here go to Canada, followed by the United Kingdom and Mexico. Other important markets, each of which accounted for about $1 million in 1968, were West Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Australia, and the Netherlands. U.S. imports rose from a value of $3.8 million in 1964 to $5.4 million in 1968. Canada and the United Kingdom are the leading suppliers, followed by Japan (table 1). Lithographically printed matter represents the largest share of U.S. imports (table 2). Other imports consist of substantial quantities of advertising and display material relating to foreign products. October 1969 |