Synthetic resins and their raw materials / A survey of the types and uses of synthetic resins, the organization of the industry, and the trade in resins and raw materials, with particular references to factors essential to tariff consideration. Under the general provisions of section 332, title III, part II, Tariff act of 1930.

by United States Tariff Commission

Imports into the United States.

Rates of duty.—Prior to September 8, 1916, the cresols were imported free of duty. Since that date they have been subject to the tariff treatment shown in table [73].

Table 73.—The cresols: Rates of duty upon United States imports, 1916-37

Period	Rate of duty			Authority
	Less than 75 percent pure	75 to 90 percent pure	90 percent or more pure
To Sept. 8, 1916.	Free	Free	Free	Free under par. 452, Tariff Act of 1913, and under previous acts.
Sept. 9, 1916, to Sept. 8, 1921.	do	do	15 percent ad valorem and 2½ cents per pound.	Revenue Act of 1916.
Sept. 9, 1921, to Sept. 21, 1922.	do	do	15 percent ad valorem and 2 cents per pound.	Emergency Tariff Act of 1921. From May 28, 1921, to Sept. 21, 1922, imports prohibited except when not obtainable in sufficient quantities or on reasonable terms as to quality, price, and terms of delivery.
Sept. 22, 1922, to Sept. 21, 1924.	do	55 percent ad valorem and 7 cents per pound.1	55 percent ad valorem and 7 cents per pound.1	Free under par. 1549 and dutiable under par. 27 of Tariff Act of 1922.
Sept. 22, 1924, to June 17, 1930.	do	40 percent ad valorem and 7 cents per pound.1	40 percent ad valorem and 7 cents per pound.1	Same; ad valorem reduced to 40 percent under provisions of the Tariff Act of 1922.
June 18, 1930, to date.	do	do	20 percent and 3½ cents per pound.1	Free under par. 1651 and dutiable under par. 27 of the Tariff Act of 1930.

¹ Ad valorem based on American selling price or United States value.

Under the Tariff Act of 1930 metacresol, orthocresol, and paracresol as such or in mixture, if less than 75 percent pure, would be imported free under paragraph 1651.[23] If from 75 to 90 percent, they are dutiable under paragraph 27 at 7 cents a pound and 40 percent based upon American selling price.[24] And if 90 percent pure or more, they are dutiable under paragraph 27 at 3½ cents per pound and 20 percent, based upon American selling price.[25]

The duties on cresylic acid in recent years are shown in table [74]. Under the Tariff Act of 1930, cresylic acid less than 75 percent pure is free under paragraph 1651.[23] If more than 75 percent pure it is dutiable under paragraph 27 (b) at 3½ cents per pound and 20 percent, based on American selling price.[26]

Table 74.—Cresylic acid: Rates of duty upon United States imports, 1916-37

Period	Rate of duty		Authority
	Less than 75 percent pure	75 percent pure or more
To Sept. 8, 1916.	Free	Free	Free under par. 452 of Tariff Act of 1913 and previous acts.
Sept. 9, 1916, to Sept. 8, 1921.	do	15 percent ad valorem and 2½ cents per pound.	Revenue Act of 1916.
Sept. 9, 1921, to Sept. 21, 1922.	do	15 percent ad valorem and 2 cents per pound.	Emergency Tariff Act of 1921. From May 28, 1921, to Sept. 21, 1922, imports prohibited except when not obtainable in sufficient quantities or on reasonable terms as to quality, price, and terms of delivery.
Sept. 22, 1922, to Sept. 21, 1924.	do	55 percent ad valorem and 7 cents per pound.1	Free under par. 1549 and dutiable under par. 27 of the Tariff Act of 1922.
Sept. 22, 1924, to Aug. 18, 1927.	do	40 percent ad valorem and 7 cents per pound.1	Same; ad valorem reduced to 40 percent under provisions of the Tariff Act of 1922.
Aug. 19, 1927, to June 17, 1930.	do	20 percent ad valorem and 3½ cents per pound.1	Duty reduced by Presidential proclamation.
June 18, 1930, to date.	do	20 percent ad valorem and 3½ cents per pound.1	Free under par. 1651 and dutiable under par. 27 of the Tariff Act of 1930.

¹ Ad valorem based on American selling price or United States value.

Import statistics.—Imports of the separated and mixed cresols are combined in official statistics. Table [75] shows imports of the cresols “90 percent pure or more.” There have been no recorded imports of less pure grades.

Tables [76], [77], and [78] show, by principal sources, imports of metacresol, orthocresol, and paracresol, as obtained from invoice analyses by the United States Tariff Commission. The sum of the three tabulations does not equal the total shown for all cresols in table [75]. The difference in 1934 of 38,744 pounds valued at $12,906 is accounted for by mixed cresols. Undoubtedly the differences in other years may be similarly accounted for.

Table 75.—Metacresol, orthocresol, and paracresol, 90 percent pure or more: United States imports for consumption, 1920, and 1923-37

Calendar year		Rate of duty1	Quantity	Value	Unit value	Computed ad valorem rate
			Pounds			Percent
1920		2½ cents per pound + 15 percent	2,444	$2,230	$0.912	17.7
1923		7 cents per pound + 55 percent	8,754	5,410	.618	66.3
1924	{	do	15,326	1,995	.130	108.8
	{	7 cents per pound + 40 percent	1,000	663	.663	50.6
1925		do	34,874	5,741	.165	82.5
1926		do	105,238	15,040	.143	89.0
1927		do	174,094	35,054	.201	74.8
1928		do	207,897	33,638	.162	83.3
1929		do	227,974	32,098	.141	89.8
1930:
Jan. 1-June 17		do	131,134	14,973	.114	101.3
June 18-Dec. 31		3½ cents per pound + 20 percent	71,183	11,762	.165	41.2
Total, 1930			202,317	26,735	.132	74.9
1931		do	151,571	26,901	.177	39.7
1932		do	83,848	18,530	.221	35.8
1933		do	48,511	16,205	.334	30.5
1934		do	124,598	34,361	.276	32.7
1935		do	65,468	18,290	.279	32.5
1936		do	83,273	27,686	.332	30.5
19372		do	167,278	36,227	.217	36.2

¹ Ad valorem rate based on American selling price or United States value under the Tariff Acts of 1922 and 1930.

² Preliminary.

Source: Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States.

Table 76.—Metacresol: United States imports for consumption by principal sources, in specified years

Imported from	1929	1931	1933	1934	1935	1936	19371
	Quantity (pounds)
United Kingdom	113,057	916	15,769	21,054	6,500	6,800	40,878
Germany	3,235		4,432
All other countries	21,106						311,025
Total	117,398	916	20,201	21,054	6,500	6,800	51,903
	Invoice value
United Kingdom	(4)	(4)	$5,264	$8,400	$2,645	$2,589	$6,951
Germany	(4)	(4)	1,548
All other countries	(4)	(4)					34,200
Total			6,812	8,400	2,645	2,589	11,151
	Invoice unit value
United Kingdom	(4)	(4)	$0.334	$0.399	$0.407	$0.380	$0.170
Germany	(4)	(4)	.349
All other countries	(4)	(4)					.381
Average			.337	.399	.407	.380	.215
	Percent of total quantity
United Kingdom	96.30	100.0	78.06	100.0	100.0	100.0	78.76
Germany	2.76		21.94
All other countries	2.94						321.24
Total	100.00	100.0	100.00	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.00

¹ Preliminary.

² Netherlands.

³ Switzerland.

⁴ Not available.

Source: Invoice analyses, compiled by U. S. Tariff Commission.

Table 77.—Orthocresol: United States imports for consumption, by principal sources, in specified years

Imported from—	1929	1931	1933	1934	1935	1936	19371
	Quantity (pounds)
United Kingdom	105,790	79,198	19,548	25,855	29,120	33,816	112,108
Germany	82,859	5,914		10	10
France						4,480
All other countries	30,600
Total	219,249	85,112	19,548	25,865	29,130	38,296	112,108
	Invoice value
United Kingdom	(2)	(2)	$1,591	$2,707	$2,529	$3,178	$14,940
Germany	(2)	(2)		4	4
France						336
Total			1,591	2,711	2,533	3,514	14,940
	Invoice unit value
United Kingdom	(2)	(2)	$0.081	$0.105	$0.087	$0.094	$0.133
Germany	(2)	(2)		.400	.400
France						.075
Average			.081	.105	.087	.092	.133
	Percent of total quantity
United Kingdom	48.25	93.05	100.0	99.96	99.97	88.30	100.00
Germany	37.79	6.95		.04	.03
France						11.70
All other countries	13.96
Total	100.00	100.00	100.0	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00

¹ Preliminary.

² Not available.

Source: Invoice analyses, compiled by U. S. Tariff Commission.

Table 78.—Paracresol: United States imports for consumption, by principal sources, in specified years

Imported from—	1929	1931	1933	1934	1935	1936	19371
	Quantity (pounds)
United Kingdom	2,587	458	6,972	16,889	16,625	32,666	14,338
Netherlands		11,243
Germany				8,818	11,023	6,076
France				13,228	5	6	4
Total	2,587	11,701	6,972	38,935	27,653	38,748	14,342
	Invoice value
United Kingdom	(2)	(2)	$2,652	$4,797	$4,485	$10,739	$5,415
Netherlands	(2)	(2)
Germany	(2)	(2)		1,921	3,090	3,079
France	(2)	(2)		3,626	7	7	3
Total			2,652	10,344	7,582	13,825	5,418
	Invoice unit value
United Kingdom	(2)	(2)	$0.380	$0.284	$0.270	$0.329	$0.378
Netherlands	(2)	(2)
Germany	(2)	(2)		.218	.280	.506
France	(2)	(2)		.274	1.400	1.167	.750
Average			.380	.266	.274	.357	.378
	Percent of total quantity
United Kingdom	100.0	3.92	100.0	43.38	60.12	84.30	99.97
Netherlands		96.08
Germany				22.65	39.86	15.68
France				33.97	.02	.02	.03
Total	100.0	100.00	100.0	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00

¹ Preliminary.

² Not available.

Source: Invoice analyses, compiled by U. S. Tariff Commission.

The processes for recovery of the cresols (fractional distillation) usually yield products more than 75 percent pure and most of the consumers of mixed or prepared cresols require products of high purity. This explains why there are no imports less than 75 percent pure, notwithstanding that they are duty-free under paragraph 1651.

Under the act of 1930 cresols of 90 percent or greater purity are assessed for duty at 20 percent ad valorem and 3½ cents per pound while cresols 75.1 to 89.9 percent pure are assessed for duty at 40 percent ad valorem and 7 cents per pound. Naturally, since the duty on imports below 90 percent pure is double that on imports over 90 percent pure there are no imports of the former.

Imports of crude cresylic acid are shown in table [79] and those of refined cresylic acid in table [80]. Imports by principal sources are shown in tables [81] and [82], for crude and refined, respectively.

Table 79.—Crude cresylic acid: United States imports for consumption, 1924-37

Year	Quantity1	Value	Unit value
	Pounds
1924	2,327,528	$157,643	$0.068
1925	2,163,557	122,742	.057
1926	5,702,740	331,550	.058
1927	9,136,516	567,802	.062
1928	10,687,109	678,177	.063
1929	17,856,765	952,110	.053
1930	9,009,674	501,418	.056
1931	4,937,078	244,631	.050
1932	4,077,700	164,379	.040
1933	5,523,733	178,824	.032
1934	7,163,511	284,051	.040
1935	6,849,113	265,485	.039
1936	13,476,427	722,575	.054
19372	16,360,213	1,219,268	.075

¹ Conversion factor—8.5 pounds to gallon.

² Preliminary.

Source: Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States.

Table 80.—Refined cresylic acid: United States imports for consumption, in specified years, 1919-37

Calendar year	Rate of duty	Quantity	Value	Unit value	Computed ad valorem rate
		Pounds			Percent
1919	2½ cents per pound plus 15 percent.	2,061	$264	$0.128	34.5
1920	do.	1,040	244	.235	25.7
1923	7 cents per pound plus 55 percent1	2,815	257	.091	131.7
1924:
Jan. 1-Sept. 21	do.1	62,869	15,169	.241	84.0
Sept. 22-Dec. 31	7 cents per pound plus 40 percent1	378,777	29,066	.077	131.2
Total		441,646	44,235
1925	do.1	98,672	23,618	.239	69.2
1926	do.1	25,932	4,748	.183	78.2
1927:
Jan. 1-Aug. 18	do.1	1,322	978	.740	49.5
Aug. 19-Dec. 31	3½ cents per pound plus 20 percent.1	610,488	37,896	.062	76.4
Total		611,810	38,874
1928	do.1	976,180	70,513	.072	68.5
1929	do.1	22,343,529	183,324	.078	64.7
1930	3½ cents per pound plus 20 percent.1	1,275,872	96,047	.075	66.5
1931	do.1	3707,105	42,156	.060	78.7
1932	do.1	4641,899	37,326	.058	80.2
1933	do.1	121,634	9,164	.075	66.5
1934	do.1	23,964	1,497	.062	76.0
1935	do.1	16,602	1,128	.068	71.5
1936	do.1	512	40	.078	64.8
19375	do.1	46,479	5,122	.110	51.8

¹ Based on American selling price or United States value.

² Drawback paid on 44 percent.

³ Drawback paid on 80 percent.

⁴ Drawback paid on 105,285 pounds.

⁵ Preliminary.

Source: Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States.

Table 81.—Crude cresylic acid: United States imports for consumption, from principal sources, in specified years, 1929-37

Imported from—	1929	1931	1933	1934	1935	1936	19371
	Quantity (pounds)
United Kingdom	13,981,259	3,809,293	5,060,925	6,927,865	6,753,003	12,344,924	12,704,108
Germany	3,874,400	1,073,491	357,034	217,965	95,727	626,833	2,499,391
Netherlands	1,106	54,294	22,066			17,468
All other countries			283,708	17,681	383	3487,202	1,156,714
Total	17,856,765	4,937,078	5,523,733	7,163,511	6,849,113	13,476,427	16,360,213
	Value
United Kingdom	$739,385	$190,333	$165,986	$276,989	$262,137	$661,781	$954,953
Germany	212,652	51,643	8,666	6,263	3,325	33,068	184,887
Netherlands	73	2,655	551			1,190
All other countries			23,621	799	23	326,536	79,428
Total	952,110	244,631	178,824	284,051	265,485	722,575	1,219,268
	Unit value
United Kingdom	$0.0529	$0.0500	$0.0328	$0.0400	$0.0388	$0.0536	$0.0752
Germany	.0549	.0481	.0243	.0287	.0347	.0528	.0740
Netherlands	.0660	.0489	.0250			.0681
All other countries			.0432	.0452	.0602	.0545	.0687
Average	.0533	.0495	.0324	.0396	.0388	.0536	.0745
	Percent of total quantity
United Kingdom	78.3	77.2	91.6	96.7	98.6	91.60	77.65
Germany	21.7	21.7	6.5	3.0	1.4	4.65	15.28
Netherlands		1.1	.4			.13
All other countries			1.5	.3	(4)	3.62	7.07
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.00	100.00

¹ Preliminary.

² Canada.

³ Canada and France.

⁴ Less than one-tenth of 1 percent.

Source: Compiled from official statistics of the United States Department of Commerce.

Table 82.—Refined cresylic acid: United States imports for consumption, from principal sources, in specified years, 1929-37

Imported from—	1929	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	19371
	Quantity (pounds)
Great Britain	1,855,844	604,404	456,783	121,634	23,464	16,602		46,379
Germany	212,918	102,701	185,028				512
All other countries	274,767		88	500				100
Total	2,343,529	707,105	641,899	121,634	23,964	16,602	512	46,479
	Value
Great Britain	$144,630	$35,041	$24,607	$9,164	$1,412	$1,128		$5,101
Germany	14,699	7,115	12,714				$40
All other countries	23,995		5		85			21
Total	183,324	42,156	37,326	9,164	1,497	1,128	40	5,122
	Unit value
Great Britain	$0.078	$0.058	$0.054	$0.075	$0.060	$0.068		$0.110
Germany	.069	.069	.069				$0.078
All other countries	.087		.057		.170			.210
Average	0.78	.060	.058	.075	.062	.068	.078	.110

¹ Preliminary.

Source: Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States.

In 1931 practically all imports of refined cresylic acid were from the United Kingdom and consigned to one importer in New York. In 1932 about 73 percent of the total dutiable imports were consigned to the same firm. From these data and from a conference with representatives of the importer it would appear that the imports were not cresylic acid in its original meaning (a mixture of cresols in their natural proportions), nor in the broadened commercial meaning (including with the cresols, xylenols and higher boiling tar acids), but were chiefly a product consisting largely of a single cresol separated from its two isomers. Treasury Decision 46146, effective March 11, 1933, closed the classification of refined cresylic acid to products of this type and imports thereafter under this head have been much smaller. After 1927 substantial amounts of the imports were reexported with benefit of drawback.

The imports of crude cresylic acid are also not of the type which the domestic producer would sell by that name. Far from being a straight run mixture of the cresol and higher boiling tar acids, they are usually a mixture of fractions which have been separated, and then chosen and combined so that they will meet both the tariff requirement (i. e., less than 75 percent of the total product will distill over at 215° C.) and the specifications of the purchasers. Customer’s specifications are so drawn that the product will fill his special needs or can easily be broken down by fractional distillation in this country into elements, one or more of which will be so usable. Thus although imported crude cresylic acid must keep within the limitations set by the tariff it approaches as nearly as possible the type of cresylic acid which, if produced in this country, would be termed refined, since it was produced to meet the specifications of the consumer.

United States exports.

Exports of the cresols and of cresylic acid are not shown in official statistics and exports of these products as such are probably negligible, but there are appreciable exports of antiseptics, insecticides, and disinfectants in which they are incorporated, as well as of products or parts of products molded of resins made from cresylic acid.