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INDUSTRIAL A N D E N G I N E E R I N G CHEMISTRY
New U. S.-Switzerland Pact Cuts Tariff o n Coal-Tar Dyes OTTO W I L S O N , 3025 Fifteenth S t . , N . W., W a s h i n g t o n , D . C. N E W reciprocal trade agreement with Switzerland, pending about a year and more eagerly awaited by certain branches of the American chemical industry than perhaps any other agreement, has been announced by the State Department. It goes into effect February 15 and runs for three years, continuing indefinitely thereafter subject to six months' notice, although also subject at any time to certain special termination clauses set forth in the text. In its general character the agreement with Switzerland may be said to be an exchange of tariff reductions by the United States for increased quotas for United States goods imported into Switzerland. The Swiss tariff policy, according to the United States State Department, has been to levy duties for revenue only, and 70 per cent of the country's revenue is derived from its customs. No general tariff increase was made during the depression, but in December, 1931, the country adopted a system of import quotas and permits, and partly through the operation of this system imports from the United States dropped to a value of $22,305,000 in 1932, about one-third less than in the year before. The high point for this trade was $46,967,000 in 1928; in 1934 it was $24,572,000. The primary purpose in negotiating the new agreement, on our part, was to liberalize these quota restrictions, and that object has been attained to the extent that on 19 American products quotas have been so enlarged that the total export value may be doubled. On 10 other items tariff duties have been reduced and on 19 others the present low duties have been bound against increase. In return for these concessions the United States reduces duties on 99 'terns, about one-third of which are included in the paragraphs of the Tariff Act relating to watches and clocks, and binds the pres ent duties on a few other items against in crease, with one item bound on the free list. The chief classes of goods affected are certain chemicals, watch movements and related products, Swiss textile special ties, certain cheeses, hat braids, and cer tain kinds of machinery.
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R e d u c t i o n s i n U. S« Chemical Duties Concessions made to Switzerland on chemicals imported from that country in clude reductions in United States duties on eight tariff items and the binding of two others against increase. The reductions range from about 22 per cent up to the maximum of 50 per cent. Four of these 10 1 items cover articles in which our import trade with Switzerland in 1934 was con siderable, but the trade in the others was negligible. By far the most important class of goods in this group is coal-tar colors, dyes, and stains, imports of which from Switzerland were valued at 82,521,000 in 1934, nearly one-half of our total im ports under this heading. The Γ. S. tariff rate on coal-tar colors, dyes, and stains is reduced from 7 cents per pound plus 45 per cent ad valorem to 40 per rent ad valorem. (The new rate, however, must not fall below the equivalent of 3.5 cents per pound plus 22.5 per cent ad valorem, as the Reciprocal Trade Agree ment Act forbids a greater reduction than one-half.) The almost unique feature of American valuation of imports for duty purposes, instead of the lower foreign valuation applied to practically all other
dutiable imports, is retained. The elimi nation of the specific duty of 7 cents and the cut in the ad valorem rate, as calculated by the State Department, represent a re duction which in 1934 would have been equivalent to a cut of 22 to 24 per cent. This reduction holds a peculiar interest for chemical circles in the United States, inasmuch as it constitutes, to a certain ex tent at least, a denial of their special plea that the existing duty on these basic chemical commodities should be left un disturbed. When the Government opened negotiations for a trade agreement with Switzerland over a year ago and held hear ings in Washington, Francis P. Garvan, on behalf of chemistry in the I'nited States, >resented an elaborate and convincing >rief, acting as the representative of the Chemical Foundation, Inc., the Chemical .Alliance, Inc., the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association, and the Manufacturing Chemists' Association of the I'nited States. In it he set forth that coal-tar dyes presented a special case in that their manufacture was a key in dustry, vitally important to the national defense; that the importance of protection of the new American industry against European cartels had been recognized, among others, by President Wilson and Senator Pat Harrison, of Mississippi; that an international combine of European manufacturers in seven countries, as shown by an official report published by the United States Department of Commerce, allocated the world export markets among the vari ous producing countries of Europe and t hreatened the industry in this country, if tariff protection should be lowered. In a supplemental brief prepared by the chemi cal industry, emphasizing the basic char acter of chemistry and chemical manu facture in our industrial life in peace and war, the point was made that American manufacturing enterprises, employing more than a million workers and turning out products valued at more than $4,566,000,000 in 1931, were directly dependent on a continuous supply of dyes. The extent to which the tariff reduction will affect American production of coal-tar chemicals can hardly be estimated. The State Department considers that the in creased imports will have an important effect only on medium-priced dyes made in this country. In view of the prominence given to the whole subject of protection of the American dye industry over a period of many years, the full statement of the State Department relating to this item of tariff reduction will be of interest:
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Coal-tar colors, dyes, and stains were dutiable under the act of 1930 at 7 cents per pound and 45 per cent ad valorem. The ad valorem part of the rate, unlike that on most commodities, does not apply to foreign value but applies to American selling price if the dyes are competitive with American products, and to "United States value" if non-competitive. The use of "United States value" makes the ad valorem part of the duty somewhat higher than it would be on foreign value, and the use of American selling price makes it about 70 per cent higher. The specific duty of 7 cents per pound, moreover, was on a basis of standard strengths prevailing before the World War and was frequently considerably more than 7 cents a pound on the weight of the dye actually imported. The agreement provides that such dyes
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shall be subject to an ad valorem duty of 40 per cent, applied on the same basis as heretofore, the specific rate being eliminated. On low-priced dyes the American dye indus try meets world prices in export markets and the change of duty is not onerous. On high-priced dyes, which sustain the research work of the chemical industry, the change of rate is comparatively unimportant in magni tude. On medium-priced dyes the reduc tion, which averages about 23 per cent, is significant and will probably stimulate im ports. By virtue of the valuation of com petitive imports at American selling price the domestic dye industry will retain a high level of tariff protection. Imports of coal-tar dyes amount to about 5 per cent of the weight and 20 per cent of the value of dye consumption in the United States. Prior to 1934 Germany was the principal source of imports; in 1934 Switzer land supplied about half the imports by value, and in 1935 more than half. Inas much as Germany has canceled her mostfavored-nation provision with the United States, that country does not obtain benefit from this or any other concession in the agreement with Switzerland. The opera tions of the German-owned dye plant in Switzerland are not sufficient in scope to divert any appreciable part of the benefits of this concession to German dye interests. Coal-tar colore, dyes, and stains constitute one of the most important imports from Switzerland, amounting to more than $2,000,000 annually. The Swiss dye indus try is primarily an export industry and is the originator of many of the new dyes which appear on the American market. This concession with reference to dyes is of great importance to the domestic textile, leather, paper, paint, and ink industries. The United States exports more chemicals to Switzerland than she receives from her. The agreement with Switzerland involves the binding of the very low Swiss rate on crude coal-tar derivatives, from which dyes and other advanced products are made, for the benefit of United States producers and exporters. Besides coal-tar products the commer cially important chemicals on which con cessions are granted are: Salts and com pounds of gluconic acid, digitalis glucosides, and ergotamine tartrate; duty re duced from 25 to 15 per cent ad valorem; 1933 imports at New York, through which practically all this trade passes, amounted to $99,456. Hydroxycitronellal, duty reduced from 45 to 22.5 per cent; 1934 imports were estimated at $20,000. Salts and compounds of barbituric acids, present duty of 25 per cent bound against increase; 1934 imports, $10,000. In the following other items involving concessions the trade with Switzerland was negligible in 1934: Chloroacetic acid, duty reduced from 5 to 2.5 cents per pound; the ad valorem equivalent of the old rate was 31 to 42 per cent and that of the new rate 16 to 21 per cent. Barbituric acids, present rate of 25 per cent ad valorem bound against increase. Artificial musk (coal tar), duty reduced from 7 cents per pound plus 45 per cent t o 7 cents plus 22.5 per cent; this article also takes American valuation. Hehotropin (coal tar), duty reduced from 7 cents per pound plus 45 I>er cent to 3.5 cents plus 22.5 per cent (both ad valorem rates based on American valuation). Geraniol, duty reduced from 45 to 30 per cent. Lead pigments com posed chiefly of suboxide of lead, duty re duced from 30 per cent ad valorem to 3 cents per pound, but not less than 15 per cent nor more than 30 per cent ad valorem; Among the Swiss concessions to the United States the only chemicals involved are coal-tar derivatives for the manufac ture of aniline dyes, etc., consisting chiefly
JANUARY 20, 1936 of benzene. T h e value of our exports of these goods to Switzerland in 1934 was $196,000. The concession consists in t h e binding against increase of the present d u t y of about 15 cents per 100 pounds. Petroleum products from the United States are granted a quota equal to the 1931 trade, which totaled nearly $4,000,000. The existing embargo on lard imports is to be lifted within three months after the signing of the agreement, and thereafter t h e Cnited States will be allotted a quota of 90 per cent of t h e total imports, this concession representing a ret u r n to normal trade. The duty on chewing gum iî« reduced by 60 per cent.
Activity in Paint Industry S t i m u l a t e s R a w Material Imports I NCREASED production of paints, varL nishes, and lacquers in the United S t a t e s during 1935, estimated at more than 20 p e r cent above the preceding year, have resulted in a sharp advance in imports of raw materials important to these industries, according to the Department of Commerce. All classes of paint and varnish materials were imported in larger quantities, including oils, pigments, gums, and oil seeds, and some, particularly Chinese tung oil, rose sharply in price. Analysis of such figures as are available indicates t h a t t h e import invoice cost of such materials was in the neighborhood of $50,000,000 in 1935, or about 40 per cent more than during t h e preceding year. About 80 per cent of the increase was due to heavier volume and 20 per cent to higher invoice prices.
Canadian Chemical Association Announces Meeting T A meeting of the Council of the Canadian Chemical Association held A in Toronto, January β, definite arrange ments were made to hold the next con vention of the association at the General Brock Hotel in Niagara Falls, Ontario, J u n e 9 t o 11, 1930. This will be a joint meeting of the Canadian Chemical Association and the Canadian Institute of Chemistry and will be under the management of the Niagara District Chemical and Industrial Associa tion, of which W. H. Macartney, of St. Catharines, is secretary and A. S. Townshend will act as convener of the Conven tion Committee. T h e Canadian Chemical Association now has a membership across Canada of seventeen hundred. The conventions bring together groups of specialists in different branches of chemistry and in dustry and are increasingly well attended by industrial executives concerned with chemical economics. Each division of chemistry carries through a separate technical program, and in this way specific problems of industrial π s e a r c h workers and plant managers are discussed. Meetings are open to all who may wish t o attend and register. The convention has come to be an opportunity accepted by many for discussion, consulta tion, and the surveying of progress in industrial and scientific research in Canada. T h e General Brock Hotel makes a specialty of handling conventions and has assured the association that it is able t o give the convention excellent facilities and, furthermore, offer accommodations at reasonable rates.
NEWS EDITION
Symposium on Heat Transmission Held at Yale University D e c e m b e r 30 t o 3 1 , 1935 TΗΕ fifteen papers given at this symposium of the Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry of the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY may
be grouped
according to subject matter as follows: heat transfer by convection, 8; methods of computation, 3 ; new instruments, 2; heat transfer by conduction, 1 ; heat transfer by radiation, 1. Convection G. H. Montillon presented data collected by D . F . Jurgensen, Jr., and himself on " H e a t Transfer Coefficients in Inclined Tubes." T h e angle of inclination is an item of major importance. In some instances increases of 50 per cent in the coefficient of heat transfer were obtained by changing the tube from vertical to horizontal. F . H. Rhodes and C. Betten, Jr., showed t h a t heat transfer in a condensing vapor is not a simple process but is complicated by the change of the temperature of the condensing vapor with change in composition. D a t a were offered to verify the theory. E . F . Holser presented data on t h e physical properties of mixtures of diphenyl and diphenyl oxide known as Dow therm and discussed the suitability of the materials for use in heat transfer systems where high temperatures are involved. Ε. N . Sieder a n d G . E. T a t e presented a method of correlating heat transfer to oils in both heating and cooling, using main stream properties. W. L. Badger and N. Fragen fitted empirical equations to sets of data on " H e a t Transfer Coeffi cients in Forced Circulation Evapora tors." W. B . Tucker, in conjunction with W. H. McAdams, used an ingenious ar rangement of d u m m y tubes surrounding one heat transfer t u b e and obtained d a t a on the "Effect of T u b e Spacing on Heat Transfer Coefficients for Air Flowing Nor mal to Tube Banks." F. W. Adams, G. Broughton, and A. L. Conn presented d a t a on the heat transmission coefficients in horizontal pipe coolers, thus adding in formation to a field t h a t has hardly been investigated. Computation A triumph of gadgetry was revealed by A. D . Moore when he demonstrated his now-almost-perfect Hydrocal, a new hydrodynamic calculating instrument for solving heat-transfer problems. I n this device water is caused to flow in a manner exactly analogous t o heat, b y forcing it through capillary tubes of calibrated re sistance. The flow is streamline and, as in heat flow, the rates are directly proIK>rtional t o driving force. T h e height of the liquid column is exactly analogous to temperature. Solving a problem con sists of connecting the correct resistance tubes in the apparatus, opening some valves, and reading water heights on a series of manometer tubes a t the end of specified times. T h e device is particu larly useful for problems of t h e unsteady state and for some cases, such as an irregu larly varying heat source, makes solutions !>ossible which are impossible with formal mathematics. A. B. Newman extended his theoretical work of the past several years so t h a t it is now possible by simple methods to com pute the complete temperature history of any point in a solid sphere, cylinder, or slab, or any shapes which involve any
combination of these. The method also takes care of different thermal properties in different directions. R. A. Bowman extended the work of previous investiga tors on the corrections which must o e applied t o the conventional logarithmic mean temperature difference to make i t applicable to shell and tube type con densers. He presented a general solution • for the corrections to he applied t o a n y combination of passes of the shell and t u b e fluids. New I n s t r u m e n t s H. C. Hottei, F . W. Meyer, and I . Stewart described a new instrument con sisting of a pair of oriented thermocouples which successfully measures the amount of radiant heat flow across a plane. It i s to be used t o measure radiant heat flow in furnaces. W. A. Kaye's paper d e scribed a new rotating thermocouple used to determine the surface temperature of the large rotating drums used in t h e paper industry. D a t a were presented t o show how practice was bettered through im proved control made possible by the new couple. Conduction R. H . Heilman's paper on " H e a t Insu lation in Air-Conditioning Systems" gave many d a t a on the conduction through t h e insulating material used in air ducts. H e presented methods of calculating t h e amount of insulation required t o prevent sweating under a n y given conditions. Radiation W. J . Wohlenberg presented the funda mental equations for the solution of t h e problem of " T h e Energy Reaction a t Points in a Furnace Cavity for Steady State Firing." H e indicated t h e method of obtaining particular solutions, and pointed out the possible applications, from a study of the life history of a piece of coal dust in a powdered coal furnace to the thermal comfort of a man in a room with radiating walls. General Over half of the total time of t h e meet ings was devoted to the discussion from t h e floor. This feature added a great deal t o the interest and value of t h e meetings. There were 74 registrants a t t h e sympo sium, t h e bulk of t h a t number attending all three technical sessions. There were two group luncheons, with almost 100 per cent attendance. The dinner meeting on the night of December 30, 1935, was outstanding because of the guest speaker, Igor Sikorsky, president of the Sikorsky Aircraft Co. T h e past two decades have shown t h a t when Mr. Sikorsky predicts h e seldom or never errs. Hence those attend ing t h e dinner are quite convinced that if they, a decade from now, have a sudden call to London the ν can land there within 24 hours on a safe, uneventful non-stop flight from New York. T h e prediction is based, of course, on coming technical d e velopments, making no allowance for in ternational politico! complication*.
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