TABLE 29.—Total yarns of wool, mohair, alpaca, etc.-Imports for consumption— Revenue 1891-1924 1 Includes 1,357,503 pounds, valued at $1,430,650, paying emergency tariff act surtax of 45 cents a pound in addition to the regular ad valorem duties. ? Includes 3,375,794 pounds, valued at $4,045,161, paying emergency tariff act surtax of 45 cents a pound in addition to the regular ad valorem duties. TABLE 29A.-Yarns of wool-Imports for consumption-Revenue, 1914-1924 ! Imports here shown separately are included in Table 29. * Includes 1,224,374 pounds, valued at $1,246,877, paying emergency tariff act surtax of 45 cents a pound in addition to the regular duty of 18 per cent ad valorem. * Includes 2,004,882 pounds, valued at $2,513,939, paying emergency tariff act surtax of 45 cents a pound, in addition to the regular duty of 18 per cent ad valorem. + Yarns of wool and other hair except mohair. Table 29B.-Yarns of mohair, alpaca, etc.1-Imports for consumption—Revenue, 1914-1924 1 Imports here shown separately are included in Table 29. Mohair and alpaca yarns were not separately recorded prior to the act of 1913. * Includes 133,129 pounds, valued at $183,773, paying emergency tariff act surtax of 45 cents a pound and the regular duty of 25 per cent ad valorem. Includes 1,370,912 pounds, valued at $1,531,222, paying emergency tariff act surtax of 45 cents £ and the regular duty of 25 per cent ad valorem. • Yarns of mohair. General imports.-The principal sources of imported wool yarns are the United Kingdom and Germany, although for certain years France has furnished considerable quantities. For the five years 1891 to 1895, inclusive, the total was almost equally divided between the first two countries. For the three years 1896 to 1898, inclusive, imports from the United Kingdom to the United States were about twice the imports from Germany. During the next 11 years, 1899 to 1909, inclusive, the quantities coming from Germany exceeded those from the United Kingdom. For the entire 19-year period, 1891 to 1909, inclusive, imports from the United Kingdom were 6,202,907 pounds, while those from Germany totaled 5,576,945 pounds. Imports by countries were not reported in our statistics for the years 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, or 1915, but British statistics indicate that during these years they were mainly of British origin. Since 1915 the United Kingdom has supplied the bulk of imports in each year. In so far as figures are available, the yarns furnished each year since 1890 by the three principal countries, and the main ports through which these yarns entered this country, are shown in Tables 30 and 31. TABLE 30.-General imports of yarns of wool, mohair, alpaca, etc., by countries 1891-1924 1 From 1910 to 1915, inclusive, general imports were not officially recorded. English statistics show exports of woolen, worsted, alpaca, mohair, and cashmere yarns from the United Kingdom to the United States for specified calendar years as follows: 1910, 58,800 pounds; 1911, 36,700 pounds; 1912, 53,200 pounds; 1913, 405,800 pounds; 1914, 3,262,600 pounds; and for 1915, 864,100 pounds. 2 July 1 to Dec. 31, 1918. TABLE 31.-General imports of yarns of wool, mohair, alpaca, etc., by principal ports of entry, 1891-1924 The above figures show that New York has always been the principal port of entry for yarns of wool, mohair, alpaca, etc. Character of imported yarns.-Worsted yarns, of wool and of mohair, make up the bulk of imports; imports of woolen yarns are small. The counts of worsted yarns most commonly imported in 1924 were: 1/21, 1/24, 1/26, 1/60, 2/16, 2/18, 2/20, 2/28, 2/42, 2/48, 2/60, 2/70, 2/78, 3/18, and 3/24; and of mohair and alpaca yarns 2/24, 2/28, and 2/32. The worsted yarns entered in greatest quantity were probably 1/21, 2/20, 2/48, and 2/70: mohair yarns were largely 2/28 and 2/32. An analysis based upon 280 different importations, totaling 713,210 pounds of yarn imported through the port of New York during the first six months of 1924, gives the following results as to types and kinds: (1) Singles ranged from 13s to 100s, (2) two-ply ranged from 12s to 80s, (3) three-ply ranged from 10s to 70s, (4) four-ply ranged from 18s to 40s, (5) six-ply and eight-ply were received in two qualities for each of these types, namely, 18s, 60s, and 18s and 80s respectively. Of this 713,210 pounds of yarn, about 43 per cent was imported directly by silk manufacturers for use in the production of broad, fancy, and tie fabrics, 13 per cent was entered by plush manufacturers, the remainder was brought in by wool manu-. facturers and commission or importing concerns. According to information obtained from the trade, worsted yarns imported in 1924 consisted chiefly of the following: (1) Fine yarns which require considerable labor in their production, (2) very hard twisted yarns, (3) medium fine yarns produced from low-grade wool, and (4) gassed yarns of fine quality. According to other available information, the mills of this country are equipped to manufacture practically any kind of yarn required by the industries, but owing to the low labor costs abroad yarns of the special types outlined above can enter the United States and be sold here below the selling prices of similar yarns made by domestic manufacturers. An unusually large percentage of labor is entailed in the production of these yarns, and the cost of making them abroad is so much less than in the United States that the domestic manufacturer can not compete with the foreign product in the American market. Furthermore, the spinning of low grades of tops into medium fine yarns, such as 2/40s yarn from quarter-blood wool stock, is said to be uneconomical in this country. In England, and also in some of the European countries, owing to the lower wages, slower processes, the methods of manufacture employed, etc., medium fine yarns can be produced from the lower grade tops with satisfactory results, and these yarns can be imported into the United States and sold here at a profit to the foreign producer. PRICES Landed costs of worsted yarns invoiced at various prices.-The landed cost of an imported yarn depends upon its foreign selling price, the landing charges (buying commission, freight, insurance, etc.), and the rate of duty. For the purpose of comparing the effect of duties, levied under each of the last four tariff acts, upon the landed cost of yarns, computations were made and a tabulation of the results is shown in Table 32. Arbitrary foreign selling prices ranging from $0.65 to $1.85 a pound, were chosen as a basis for the following table which shows the total landed costs of the yarns according to the manner in which they were classified in each tariff act. TABLE 32.-Imported yarns of wool, camel's hair, mohair, alpaca, etc.-Effect of duties under four tariff acts, 1909–1922 • Yarns of mohair, alpaca, etc. 1 Yarns of wool, camel's hair, mohair, alpaca, etc. 4 Includes buying commission, insurance, and freight, which has been added for different years as follows: 3 cents for 1909, 4 cents for 1913, and 5 cents for the emergency act and the act of 1922. |