Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/797

* CUSTOMS DUTIES. 689 CUSTOMS DUTIES. cidental. It is the deliberate planning which characterizes a protective tarill'. Whether such a course is to be justified is not to be discussed here. (See Fkee Tr.ue: and Takiff.) ' It is tuough for our purpo.se to note that the injec- tion into tariir legislation of ulterior economic motives complicates the machinery of customs duties in a liigh degiee. Such a course docs not eliminate the liscal features of a tarill', as tlioro are few States which can afford to handle their ijustoms taxation in such a way as entirely to subordinate liscal interests to economic polie}-. The contrast between a purely revenue tarill" and a protective tarill' is illustrated most strik- ingly by comparing the United States and Great Britain. In the latter the general principle is freedom from taxation, duties being laid upon a few articles onlj', twenty-seven in all. In the United States, the general principle is taxa- tion, and all articles not specifically taxed at rates named, or expressly exempt from taxation, are subject to a dutj' of 10 per cent, if un- manufactured and of 20 per cent, if manufac- tured in whole or in part. The complicated structure of the American tariff is shown in the following analysis of the tariff act of ISfl", show- ing the several schedules and the cUisses of duties imposed by the several paragraphs under each which fix the rates: convenience of administration has proiluced a general sentiment in favor of specific duties, but nations which pursue an avowedly protectionist policy cannot yield to this sentiment as largely as those whose tarill' is for revenue only. Spe- cific duties can best be applied when the product is comparatively uniform in (piality and value. In Creat Jiritain, (iermany. and Austria, only specific duties ]]revail, and the tarill's in l'"ranee and Italy show very few ad valorem rates. With these countries the United States stands in marked contrast. Here ad valorem rates are abundant, but the provisions of the act arc so complex that a separation of rates into two classes only is not practicable, and it has become necessary, as is shown in our statement above given, to add a mixed class. This includes several cases (1) when two articles arc named in the same paragraph, one receixing an ad valorem and the other a specific tax; (2) where one article receives both forms of tax ; ( 3 ) where an article is classed according to value and then receives a specific tax for each class. Other combinations also occur, as where an article is classed accord- ing to value and receives a difi'erent ad valorem rate in each class, or again when classed accord- ing to specific characteristics and taxed at dif- ferent ad valorem rates, but these combinations are classed as ad valorem rates. Specific rates Paragraphs fixing rates Total Specific Ad valorem Mi.ed SI! 34 70 15 4 6 71 12 20 25 24 8 15 55 (i7 15 40 6 2 4 68 11 2 » S 1 2 15 14 IB j» 8 "6 "i 6 1 3 7 32 6 3 15 1 2 1 7 H. Spirits, Wines, and other Beverages, 1 13 J. Flax, Hfinp am] Jute and manufactures of 11 K. "Wool, ami inaiiut'actures of 15 X;. Sillcs and Sillc Hoods 4 e 8 444 242 24G 106 »2 Free List . Customs duties are specific and ad valorem, the former being reckoned by the quantity of the goods imported (weight, measure, or num- ber), and the latter by the value. Theoretieall}% the ad valorem duties are the prefei'able, as they adjust the amount of the burden to the value of the article. But they offer great practical difficulties in ascertaining the value of the goods. As the statements of the importers, even when made under oath, are not accepted as final evi- dence as to the value of the goods, a complex machinery for the ascertainment of values is a necessary adjunct to all ad valorem taxes. Hence the preference for specific duties, which can be imposed readily according to the physical char- acteristics of the objects imiiorted. Such spe- cific duties fall unequally u])on objects of high value and low value in the same class. Thus, if all textiles were taxed 1.5 cents a square yard, such a tax would be prohibitive on print cloths, but insignificant upon silks. It is the plaint of ■the protectionist that specific duties protect only the lower grades of goods from foreign competi- tion. The only method of mitigating this is to make a minute division into classes. The greater predominate in the schedules A, C, F, G, and H, but in the others ad valorem and mixed rates prevail. CLASSES Duty col- lected. 1901 Average ad valorem rate, % 1. Sugar and Molasses 2. Cotton and nianntactun-Bof 3. Wool and manufactures of. 4. Tobacco and inanufnctui-es 5. Silk and manufactures of... 6. Fibres. vegetable, and manufactures of 7. Liquors, Malt, Distilled, and Wines SC3.022.429 21.S20.C9O 21,575.006 10.055,744 14,245,693 12,908,017 9.121,236 8.269,364 6,988,479 6,003,647 7.1.44 64.87 70.21 110.63 63.07 37.27 70.01 R. Tea 82.54 !i. Iron and Steel and manu- 38.16 10. Chemicals, Drugs, and Dyes 26.96 $180,206,294 232,041,600 Total of all imports 49.64 But if rates be many, they are not all equally significant. As indicated above, rates are fixed in 444 paragraphs of the tariff law, but many impose several rates, so that neither the number