1919 only 17 and 78 tons, respectively, were imported. In the calendar year 1920, 66 tons were imported. In 1921 imports increased to 294 tons. Under the act of 1909 from the fiscal year 1910 to the fiscal year 1913 the supercalendered grade (glassine) represented about two-thirds of the imports. Suddenly, in the fiscal year 1914 the proportion changed, very small amounts of glassine having been imported since the act of 1913 went into effect. Imports of greaseproof paper also greatly decreased after 1915, but not as much as imports of glassine. In 1921 imports of grease-proof paper amounted to 286 tons and those of glassine to 8 tons. PRICES. Parchment paper.--The following table, compiled by the manufacturers, shows the great decline in the price of parchment paper from 1885 to the five-year period preceding the war, and its steady rise since 1915: In 1909 the average price (exclusive of duty) paid for imported parchment paper was $17.50 per 100 pounds or twice the average domestic price; in 1920 the imported grade averaged $37 per 100 pounds (exclusive of duty) or nearly twice the domestic price. Imports would thus appear unimportant, before the war or at the present time, as a factor in price-cutting in the United States. TARIFF HISTORY. 、 Until the tariff act of 1894 neither parchment paper nor imitation parchment paper was separately enumerated in the tariff. In 1894 a 30 per cent ad valorem duty was imposed on parchment paper. The act of 1897 imposed a specific duty of 2 cents per pound plus a 10 per cent ad valorem duty on parchment paper; the 1909 act continued this rate. Under the act of 1897 the ad valorem equivalent duty was considerably lower than the ad valorem duty under the act of 1894, averaging about 21 per cent for the fiscal years 1907 to 1909. Under the act of 1909 the equivalent ad valorem rate can not be segregated. The act of 1909 first separately enumerated imitation parchment paper, grouping it with parchment paper and imposing the same duty (2 cents per pound plus 10 per cent ad valorem) on both varieties. It separated the supercalendered grades of both parchment and imitation parchment paper grouped together from those not supercalendered. This worked out as a great increase over the 25 per cent rate of 1897. Although parchment paper and imitation parchment paper are not separated in the import statistics, the former was undoubtedly such a small percentage of the total that the computed ad valorem equivalent rate on the two combined means practically the equivalent ad valorem rate on the imitation grade alone. In any case, the low equivalent rate (about 21 per cent) on parchment paper up to 1909 means that its inclusion with imitation parchment would tend to pull down the equivalent rate on the two combined, as far as it had any effect. The equivalent ad valorem rate, then, on imitation parchment paper, both supercalendered and not supercalendered, under the tariff act of 1909, averaged nearly 50 per cent. The 1913 act decreased this rate to 35 per cent ad valorem. It imposed a 25 per cent ad valorem duty on parchment paper. Judging from the equivalent ad valorem rate of 2 cents per pound plus 10 per cent ad valorem duty in 1909 (21 per cent) when parchment paper was last separately reported, this 25 per cent rate was an in crease. It will be noted that in 1897 the rates of the two varieties crossed each other. Up to 1894 they were the same; by the act of 1894 the duty on parchment paper was greater than that on imitation parchment paper. By the act of 1897 and the acts since then the duty on imitation parchment paper has been the larger one. Relation of tariff to imports.-Parchment paper has had a very uniform rate of duty. Its imports, small in amount, have not been visibly affected one way or the other by changes in rates. In imitation parchment the only change since 1907 in the rate of imports at the time of a change in tariff has been that following the tariff act of 1913, when imports of nonsupercalendered imitation parchment suddenly more than doubled in amount over the previous two years. However, the 1911 imports had been as large as the 1914 imports. Moreover, simultaneously imports of the supercalendered variety dropped to almost nothing, although the war did not break out until nearly a year later. Hence the conclusion is that the tariff has had very little to do with the amount of imports of imitation parchment paper. COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS. The competitive situation in parchment paper and imitation parchment paper is similar to that existing in fine paper and in wrapping paper. Before the war the United States imported significant but not large amounts of imitation parchment paper from Europe. But imports have since decreased to practically nothing. Imports of parchment paper into the United States have always been almost negligible. Whether in the future the United States need fear competition is problematical. Present conditions of production and exchange are so unsettled abroad that no one can do more than guess as to what Europe will do in international paper trade. Labor costs in Europe have reached what is probably a permanently higher status compared with their former relation to United States labor costs. Belgium, formerly the most important outside source of parchment paper, has done excellent work in reorganizing her industries since the war. Certain grades of Belgian parchment paper are of better quality than anything made in the United States, and it is likely that to some extent, Belgium will expand her market in the United States. Parchment paper. The fact that in 1920 imports of parchment paper amounted to only four-fifths of 1 per cent of domestic production, and that out of six companies producing four companies alone exported 11 per cent of total American production, points to the strong international competitive position of the American parchment-paper industry. Although the Germans have made considerable progress in manufacturing parchment paper, they have not been able to build up an export trade to the United States, even though 'the duty under the acts of 1897 and 1909 was lower than under the act of 1913. Before 1907, when imports by countries were separately stated, Germany was of much less importance than Belgium as a source of imported parchment paper. During the five years from 1902 to 1906, 46 per cent of the imports into the United States -came from Belgium and only 21 per cent from Germany. Also, the fact that in 1909 the price paid for imported parchment paper (exclusive of duty) was twice the average domestic price. reported by the manufacturers, and in 1920 was nearly twice the domestic price, indicates that imports have little effect in depressing domestic prices. Summary. Hence the question of competition in parchment and imitation parchment papers can be summed up by noting that (1) past competition was not so great as to be dangerous; (2) present competition is practically zero; (3) future competition depends on factors which are constantly shifting; (4) as far as the effect of these factors can be foreseen, it will be a number of years at least before shipments to the United States will approximate pre-war levels. STATISTICAL TABLES. Imports of parchment paper, by countries, 1902-1906. GREASE-PROOF AND IMITATION PARCHMENT PAPERS BY WHATEVER NAME KNOWN SUPERCALENDERED AND RENDERED TRANSPARENT OR PARTIALLY SO. 1 Oct. 4, 1913, to June 30, 1914. 2 For use of United States. * Sec. IV-M, act of Oct. 3, 1913. GREASE-PROOF AND IMITATION PARCHMENT PAPER, BY WHATEVER NAME KNOWN, NOT SUPERCALENDERED AND RENDERED TRANSPARENT OR PARTIALLY SO. Imports for consumption-Revenue, 1907-1921-Continued. PARCHMENT, GREASE-PROOF, AND IMITATION PARCHMENT PAPERS, BY WHATEVER NAME KNOWN, SUPERCALÉNDERED AND RENDERED TRANSPARENT OR PARTIALLY SO. (Act of 1909.) PARCHMENT, GREASE-PROOF, AND IMITATION PARCHMENT PAPERS, BY WHATEVER NAME KNOWN, NOT SUPERCALENDERED AND RENDERED TRANSPARENT OR PARTIALLY SO. (Act of 1909.) Rates of duty on parchment paper and imitation parchment paper, 1894–1913. *** parchment papers, and grease-proof and imitation parch- *** grease-proof and imitation parchment papers which have Do. 25 per cent ad valorem. 35 per cent ad valorem. |