Arizona republican., 1903-08-17
TIN BUSINESS
The 81 res of lInpOrtations
lys the Last Year
BIGGf>{$ VTRADf RECORD
A Heavy Export Duty in One Of the
Chief Sources Of Supply Nay Inter-
fsTe Win the Trade in this Country

Washington, Aug. 16.-Importati tions
Cf pig tin inso the United States ill the
United States in the past year were
larger than in any proceeding year. The
statistics of the years imports as pre-
sented by the department of COM
merce and labor through its bureau of
statistics snow that the importa tions CT
tin We're eighty-eight million pounds.
valued at more than $4,000, 600. In 1920
the importations were 80 million pounds.
valued at about ST,00000O.
These figures of the years importa-
ton of tin. and the growth since 1890,
are especially interesting in view of
the recent imposition o: duty on ex-
portations of tin ore from the British
| colonies of the Malayan Peninsula.
The rapid growth of the use of tin in
the United States. coupled with the
fact that practically none of that arti-
Gle is produced ir this country, sug-
gested the importati ton of tin in the
form of ore, and the smelling of the
ore and the manufacture of the pig
tin at home. A plant for this purpose
has been erected in the United States.
| and the shipment of ore from the Ma
| layan Peninsula was about to begin
when the department of commerce and
labor received word through the re-
ports Of the United States consul at
| Straits Settlements that an export du-
| ty of $50 per picul Q33 pounds had
been levied on tin ore exported: the
| purpose of this export tax the ore
| being to prevent its expectation in the
natural state. and to retain for the peo-
| pie of the Malayan states the profits
! Of smelling.
Whether this will terminate the PRO
| iect of importing the ore into the
| United States for smelling cannot yet
| be told. The Malayan states now pro-
| duce more than one-half of the tin
which enters into the commerce of the
| world, their total shipments in 1891.
being 10000 tons. out of total of SO
et0 tons entering the markets Of the
world in that year. Next in impor-
tance in the tin product of the. world
, after tllat of the Malayan states is
that of the Dutch East Indies. which
| marketed about 20. coo tons in 1901 Bo-
livia about 10000 tons. Australia about
1000 tons and Wales about 1000 tons
Whether the proposed smelters of the
| United States will be able to obtain
ore for their new works elsewhere now
| that the importation from the Maiayan
states is practically prohibited by the
new export quty, is not known. 1t is.
however, an interesting fact that three
fourths of the worlds tin comes from
parts of the world not far distant from,
the Philippine Islands, and this fact,
coupled with the growing demand for
tin in the United States. may lead to
careful eXanlna ton as to the possibil-
/ ity of. tin production in the Philippines
OF our importation OF tin last year.
Al million pounds came from the East
Indies. 30 millions from the United
Kingdom and about millions from the
/, | Netherlands.
1t must not be supposed that all OF
the tin imported into the United States
/ is used in the manufacture of tin plate,
though large share of it is utilized in
that industry. Prior to the beginning
of the manufacture of tin plate there
were considerable importations OF tin.
: ranging from 20 to 30 million pounds
p per annum, and in 1890 it was So mil
f / lion pounds. The manufacture of tin
plate practically began in 1891, the
total production CT that year being
about 1000 tons; by 1855 it was 113, ,00I
tons. by 1eC0 it was 3O2. 900 tons, and
in 1892 366. 600 tons. Meantime the i'm
portation of pig tin grew from So mil
lion pounds in 1890 to AZ millions in
8 1895, 20 millions in 1900, and S8 millions
in 1903-hscal year just ended.
The decrease in the importations OF
TN plate has about kept pace with the
increase in the importations of tir
and the manufacture of tin plate Al
t home. In 1880 the importations OF til
e plate amounted to $50 million pounds
! in 1885 sos million pounds: in 1890 II
c million pounds, and in 1903 110 millior
/ pounds. Meantime expectation of do
! mestic tin plate has begun in a small
s way; beginning with about 2OG0,
/ pounds in 1888 and amounting to abou
y one and one-half million pounds il
r 1903. About 20 million pounds of Amer
i lean tin was also sent to Alaska las
e year for use in the manufacture of til
= cans, in which million dollars wortl
t Of Alaskan salmon were packed ant
! shipped to the United States.