The dominant company in the field of beverage grape juice production is a grape-growers' cooperative with over 3,000 members. Plants of this organization are located in New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arkansas, and Washington. Most companies producing beverage grape juice also pack jellies and jams or other fruit juices. Concentrate sold to wineries and distilleries is produced chiefly by wineries. U.S. annual production of beverage grape juice is estimated to have ranged between 40 million and 53 million gallons (single strength) in 1964-68, with value at manufacturers' sales level between $44 million and $58 million (table 1). According to the 1963 Census of Manufactures, approximately 60 percent of production was in the form of frozen concentrate and the remainder was canned or bottled in single-strength form. The amount of grape juice going into wine and spirits varies widely year to year dependent on the size of the California grape crop. About 90 percent of U.S. grape production is in California. Most of the crop not sold as table grapes or raisins (both relatively stable markets) goes into wine, and in periods of recurring grape surpluses mounting wine inventories tend to depress the price of bulk wine, grape concentrate, and grapes sold to wineries. Grape growers in California have made two attempts in recent years to solve this problem: One through surplus set-asides under a Federal marketing order program (terminated by vote of the grape growers in 1963) and the other through a State program establishing minimum prices for California bulk wine and grape concentrate (terminated by the growers in 1968 after challenge in the courts.) U.S. exports and imports U.S. exports of grape juice are not separately reported in official statistics, but are believed to be negligible. Imports amounted to 120,000 gallons valued at $94,000 in 1964 and to 1,237,000 gallons, valued at $490,000 in 1965. The largest increases in 1965 occurred in imports from Cyprus, Canada, and Spain, consisting chiefly of low unit-value concentrate for use in making wine. The unit value per single-strength gallon from Cyprus was 46 cents in 1964 and 34 cents in 1965, when 66,000 and 1,013,000 gallons were imported respectively. Following the rate change of December 1965, annual imports diminished to a range of 22,000 to 100,000 gallons, with a value between $51,000 and $80,000, which reflected the pre-TSUS pattern of trade. West Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands again became the major suppliers (table 2), and imports again were mostly bottled grape juice for direct consumption as a beverage. February 1970 Table 1.--Grape juice: U.S. production, imports for consumption, and apparent consumption, 1963-68 Source: Production based on 1963 Census of Manufactures, U.S. Department of Commerce, and partial trade data in noncensus years; import data compiled from official statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce. February 1970 Note.--For the statutory description, see the Tariff Schedules of the United States Annotated (TSUSA-1970). U.S. trade position The United States is the world's largest producer, exporter, and consumer of pineapple juice. Imports, mostly from the Philippines under tariff preference, supply about 15 percent of U.S. consumption. About 7 percent of U.S. production is exported. Description and uses Pineapple juice, from the cultivated, semitropical fruit of the plant species Ananas comosus is produced principally as a byproduct of pineapple canning. It is obtained as excess juice during production of crushed pineapple, during the trimming and slicing of cut or sliced pineapple, or from the final crush of discarded cores or trimmings. It is also extracted from whole fruit of a size or condition unsuitable for processing into canned pineapple. Pineapple juice, sweetened or unsweetened, is marketed at retail almost entirely in airtight cans. If blended with other fruit juices the pineapple juice is most often mixed with grapefruit juice. Such mixtures of fruit juices are covered in the summary on mixed juices (item 165.65). Minor amounts of pineapple juice are marketed as frozen concentrate in small containers. Juice consumed in the United States is chiefly from fruit of the smooth cayenne variety, Hawaiian or Philippine in origin. Fruit of this type are also grown in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico, Australia, Formosa, South Africa, and Kenya. The Red Spanish variety predominates in the Caribbean area, and the Queen variety in Malaysia and Australia. About a third of the juice processed from pineapples in the United States and over half of juice imports enter the market in concentrated form. Most concentrate is used in the production of canned fruit-juice drinks, combinations of fruit juice, water, citric acid, dextrose, and vitamin C. Fruit juice drinks are included in this volume in the summary for item 166.40, covering nonalcoholic beverages not elsewhere enumerated in the tariff schedules. Although dehydrated, February 1970 powdered or crystalline concentrate is included in this summary under item 165.46, trade in such form is small. U.S. tariff treatment The column 1 rates of duty applicable to imports (see general headnote 3 in the TSUSA-1970) are as follows: The per-gallon duty rates apply to juice in natural unconcentrated form. If the juice is concentrated, the duty is calculated on the number of gallons of reconstituted single-strength juice which can be made from a gallon of the concentrate (see headnotes 3 and 4 to part 12A, schedule 1 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States concerning "reconstituted" juice, which are reproduced in appendix A to this volume.). A concentrated juice may be in liquid, powdered, or solid form. The average Brix values of unconcentrated fruit juices in the trade and commerce of the United States are set forth for tariff purposes in section 13.19, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 13.19). For pineapple juice the average Brix value has been determined to be 14.3 degrees. The corrections for added sweetener, acidity, and specific gravity provided for under headnotes 3 and 4 are made by the Bureau of Customs according to established procedure. The rates of duty on pineapple juice were not affected by the 1964-67 trade conference (Kennedy Round) under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The rate on item 165.44, essentially unconcentrated pineapple juice, reflects an earlier concession under the GATT, effective January 1, 1948. The rate on "other" pineapple juice, 165.46, also became effective on January 1, 1948, but reflects a rate adjustment in the TSUS to take into account the prevailing degree of concentration of imports prior to August 31, 1963. Under the former tariff schedules, the duty was applicable on the basis of actual gallons entered, whether concentrated or unconcentrated, whereas under the TSUS the duty on concentrated juice is based on the quantity of reconstituted single-strength juice which can be made from a gallon of the concentrate. February 1970 |