CLASSIFICATION OF ACTIVITIES 5. General Research and Investigation 1. "Surveys" of commodities 49 2. Dictionary of tariff subjects, summaries, handbooks, etc. 1 APPENDIX 3 PUBLICATIONS The publications of the commission are of two kinds: those printed for the use of congressional committees which are not available for general distribution and those prepared for general distribution, on sale by the Superintendent of Documents at the Government Printing Office. Publications Prepared for General Distribution. This group of publications may be further subdivided into four groups, the annual reports of the commission, the investigations in reform of customs administrative laws, the so-called Tariff Information Series, and miscellaneous publications. Annual Reports. These reports give full account of the work accomplished during the fiscal year by the commission and its staff, summarize the publications prepared and investigations conducted, and outline briefly the conclusions reached and recommendations made in these investigations and reports. There are included also tables of expenditures and classifications of personnel. The second annual report contains in the appendix samples of the tariff information catalog for certain commodities. All but the fourth annual report, which may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents at ten cents per copy, are out of print. 1 A list of these publications giving prices for those on sale by the Superintendent of Documents may be obtained from the commission. A "List of Principal Subjects Investigated and Reported Upon by the U. S. Tariff Commission" has been recently published by the commission which shows the status of work on each subject, the report number, the paragraph of the schedule of the tariff act to which each subject applies, etc. Investigations in Reform of Customs Administrative Laws. Three such reports have been issued: "Interim Legislation," "Revision of Customs Administrative Laws," and "Free Zones in Ports of the United States." The supply of all these reports has been exhausted. Tariff Information Series. The majority of the reports in this series are prepared as aids "to the study and clearer understanding of the tariff and its bearing on various industries." These reports contain "definitions of terms mentioned in the Tariff Act and brief descriptions, in language as nontechnical as possible, of processes of manufacture”; statistical tables of production, consumption, imports, exports, revenue received, rates of duty, etc.; descriptions of conditions existing in the industry at the time of publication as shown by the testimony of leading manufacturers; digest of decisions under the Tariff Act of 1913; etc. Studies of this sort have been made to date on Paper and Books 2; Silk and Manufactures of Silk 2; the Button Industry 2; the Surgical Instrument Industry in the United States 2; the Brush Industry 2; Cotton Venetians; Cotton Yarn; Incandescent Gas-Mantle Industry; Barytes, Barium Chemical and Lithopone Industries and the Crude Botanical Drug Industry. Several studies in this series are specially concerned with the effect of the war upon certain trades; the Glass Industry as Affected by the War,2 Industrial Readjustment of Certain Mineral Industries Affected by the War, and the Dyestuff Situation in the Textile Industries.2 The reports of cost of production investigations are also issued in this series. They include Cost of Production in the Sugar Industry;2 Cost of Production in the Dye Industry 1918 and 1919, and Refined Sugar-Costs, Prices and Profits. By direction of the President, (see p. 36 supra) the commission has made four Annual Censuses of Dyes and Coal Tar Chemicals and reported the results in four publications 2 Out of print. of the Tariff Information Series, designated "Census of Dyes and Coal-Tar Chemicals" for 1917,2 1918, 1919, and 1920, respectively. A few special studies have also been included in the series:-The Acids of paragraph 1 and Related Materials provided for in the Tariff Act of 19132; and Agricultural Staples and the Tariff. A "Subject Index to Tariff Information Surveys and Reports" has been prepared and is listed as a member of the series. Miscellaneous Publications. This group includes various reciprocity and commercial-treaty studies; a report on Dyes and Coal Tar Chemicals; Japan: Trade during the War; and an Outline of Work and Plans.2 Publications for the Use of Congressional Committees. Owing to the commission's lack of funds, for publication of many of its reports, the House Committee on Ways and Means has arranged for printing such studies as are of value to the committee, particularly in its revision of the Tariff Act of 1913. Tariff Information Surveys. The Tariff Commission, shortly after its organization, planned a series of pamphlets of standard form, known as Tariff Information Surveys, aimed to bring together all available information which might be of service to Congress in any revision of the tariff. Each survey gives a description of the article under discussion, with its various grades and uses. It then takes up the domestic production of the article, with special reference to the raw materials required and, where these are not available from domestic sources, the extent to which the industry must rely on imports. The process of manufacture is briefly described in order to indicate whether or not the industry is adapted to American conditions and whether highly skilled labor is required. The relation of domestic production to consumption is analyzed in order to show to what extent the domestic consumer is dependent upon imports for his supply 2 Out of print. and from what countries these imports come. If a commodity is one in which the United States production exceeds the consumption and an exportable surplus exists, the export trade is discussed and the principal countries of destination are shown. The amount, the nature, and the causes of foreign competition in the American market are stated and analyzed. The survey also shows the rate of duty on any given article under the various tariff acts since 1883, and gives decisions by the Treasury Department and the Court of Customs Appeals regarding classification of commodities under these laws. When it became known that hearings would be held in January 1921, in contemplation of tariff revision, the commission informed the Committee on Ways and Means of the data which the commission had in manuscript form but which could not be published for lack of sufficient funds. The Com`mittee on Ways and Means thereupon arranged for publication of the surveys.3 Miscellaneous. Among other of the Commission's publications made available by the Committee on Ways and Means, the following are the most significant : Optical Glass and Chemical Glassware The Magnesite Industry Tungsten Bearing Ores Pyrites and Sulphur Domestic Potato Product Industries Dumping and Unfair Foreign Competition in the Information Concerning American Valuation 8 See the Tariff Commission's Annual Report, 1921, p. 9 et seq. for progress made to Dec. 1921 in publication of these "Surveys." |