Legation of
the United States,
Mexico, December 2, 1885.
(Received December 11.)
No. 117.]
[Inclosure in No. 117.]
Mr. Jackson to Mr.
Mariscal.
Legation of the United States,
Mexico, December 1,
1885.
Sir: I am instructed by my Government to bring
to the special attention of your excellency the fact that the rates of
duty fixed by the existing tariff laws of Mexico upon certain food
products of the United States are such as to prohibit their importation.
For example: The duty on lard is 20 cents per kilogram, or 9⅛ cents per
pound; on smoked or salted meats, it is 25 cents per kilogram, or 11⅜
cents per pound; and on canned meats it is 80 cents per kilogram, or 36⅜
cents per pound; all net weight.
If the price of lard be taken at 6 cents per pound net, and the freight,
which is about 4¼ cents per pound, be added, it will be seen that the
duty, 9⅛ cents, is almost as much as the cost of the lard and the
freight together.
[Page 568]
On canned meats the result is yet more noticeable. One case containing
twelve 2-pound cans of corned beef will net 24 pounds of beef, costing
say about $2.50. The freight to the city of Mexico is about $1.50 per
case, while the duty, at 36⅜ cents per pound, is $8.73, making one case
of 2-pound corn beef, laid down in the city of Mexico, cost $12.73, of
which the duty is $8.73.
It thus becomes clear that the Mexican tariff, as it now exists,
practically excludes these staples of necessity from the markets of the
country; and inasmuch as none of them are produced in any of the States
of Mexico, it would seem to be equally clear that while benefiting no
one, these prohibitory duties must operate to the prejudice of the
people of Mexico, in depriving them of cheap and wholesome articles of
food. There is scarcely room for doubt that if the tariff were so
modified as to invite rather than to exclude these products of the
United States, a trade would spring up in them largely augmenting the
revenue of Mexico and promoting the true interests of both nations. Will
your excellency permit me, on the part of my own Government, most
respectfully to urge that consideration be given to this important
subject, to the end of ascertaining whether the modifications in the
existing tariff laws, which I have been instructed to suggest, may not
be properly and judiciously made?
I avail myself, &c.,
