Señor Hurtado to Mr. Blaine.
Washington, February 25, 1892. (Received February 27.)
Sir: I had the honor to duly receive your note of the 7th of January last past, in which you made known to me that you had been directed by His Excellency the President to again bring my attention to the third section of the tariff law of the United States, approved by Congress on the 1st of October, 1890, the provisions of which you recite.
You then state that you had been further directed by His Excellency the President to inform me that in view of the free introduction into the United States of certain grades of sugar, molasses, coffee, tea, and hides, he deems the duties imposed upon the agricultural and other products of the United States, on their introduction into Colombia, to be reciprocally unequal and unreasonable, and that unless on or before the 15th day of March next some satisfactory commercial arrangement is entered upon between the Government of the United States and the Government of Colombia, or unless some action is taken by the latter Government whereby the unequal and unreasonable state of the trade relations between the two countries be removed the President will, on the day last named, issue his proclamation suspending the provisions of the tariff cited relating to the free introduction of such sugar, molasses, coffee, tea, and hides, the production of Colombia, and that during such suspension the duties set forth in section 3 of said law shall be levied, collected, and paid upon them.
On receipt of your said note of the 7th of January I sent a copy thereof to the minister of foreign relations at Bogota, which went forward by the mail appointed to leave New York, via Colon, on the 11th of January; and from instructions received at this legation previous and subsequently to that date I am enabled to offer some remarks on the contents of your said note, which I shall proceed to submit, with a view to expedite the full and proper consideration of this important matter.
Reserving all rights growing out of treaty stipulations existing between Colombia and the United States of America, in connection with the subject under consideration, I beg leave to observe, in the first place, that such changes in the tariff law of Colombia as are contemplated by the tenor and spirit of your note can not be effected otherwise than through the action of the Legislature. Congress in Colombia meets on the 20th of July of every alternate year. The last ordinary session came to a close in November, 1890; that is to say, when the tariff law of the United States, adopted on the 1st of the previous month, could barely have become known in Bogota, in the form it was approved, and long before you were good enough to call the attention of this legation, for the information of my Government, to the provisions of the third section of the said law. The President of Colombia has therefore had no opportunity to ascertain the sense of Congress respecting the provisions contained in the third section of the said law of the 1st of October, 1890; nor will he be able to do so and obtain the proper authority from the Legislature to adopt measures in connection [Page 453] therewith until after the next meeting of Congress, which will take place on the 20th of July of the present year.
These facts must have escaped the notice of His Excellency President Harrison, at the time of framing the resolution which you have done me the honor to communicate to me in your note of the 7th of January last past; otherwise, judging from the just and equitable spirit which has characterized the proceedings of the present Administration in its relations with the Government of Colombia, a later date than the 15th of next March would, no doubt, have been fixed upon for the issuance of the contemplated proclamation to suspend, under certain contingencies, the exemption from import duties enjoyed under the tariff act by certain articles, the produce of Colombia, on their introduction into the United States.
Under these circumstances, due regard being had on the one hand to the inability of the President of Colombia to deal for the time being in a definite manner with the subject-matter of your said note of the 7th of January last, and on the other part to his earnest desire to follow in this emergency such a course as will result in an amicable, equitable, and mutually satisfactory solution of the situation arising out of the provisions of the third section of the United States tariff act, I am directed by my Government to express the hope that His Excellency the President of the United States, after he shall have given due consideration to the position of things as above described, will be pleased to allow the trade relations between the two countries to continue undisturbed until such time, at least, as the President of Colombia may be able to obtain from Congress instructions and authority to treat upon and dispose of this matter.
And I am further directed, in cordial response to the desire of your Government (expressed in the last paragraph of your note), to maintain mutually advantageous trade relations with the Republic of Colombia; and as an earnest of the favorable dispositions entertained by the President toward the adjustment of this question, to convey to you the assurance that it is his intention to recommend to Congress, immediately after its organization, the extension of the free tariff list, so as to include articles at present liable to duty upon their introduction into Colombia and the consumption of which would be fostered if relieved from import duties.
With reference to the designation of “reciprocally unequal and unreasonable,” bestowed on the import duties of Colombia as affecting agricultural and other American products, I am requested to state that the conclusion reached by His Excellency the President in this respect has greatly disappointed the expectations of my Government, inasmuch as the Colombian tariff is especially favorable to imports from the United States, and contains liberal provisions of a nature to encourage and promote commercial relations between the two countries.
I am directed to specially call your attention to these points, which I shall illustrate by a few examples and remarks.
At page 82 of the last bulletin issued by the Bureau of the American Republics, purporting to set forth the foreign commerce of the nations of this continent, will be found a table showing the imports into Colombia of the United States, Great Britain, France, and Spain for the year 1887, to which I beg to refer. It is to be regretted that no similar statement of later date is given; but as it is only intended to establish relative or comparative results, the fact of this data being a few years old is a matter of but little importance.
On examining this table it will be seen that, as regards the agricultural staple products of this country, viz, breadstuffs, meat and dairy [Page 454] produce, sugar, tobacco, and vegetables, the United States exported to Colombia to the value of $1,505,709, while Great Britain, France, and Spain, taken collectively, only imported like articles to the value of $2.6,595. Hence the United States have the monopoly of the foreign trade with Colombia in this description of produce, and consequently a reduction of the import duties on such articles would in no way benefit the commerce of this country, whereas it would disturb and be detrimental to Colombian interests.
In the table referred to appear other descriptions of imported merchandise which may be classed under the head of agricultural produce, viz, vegetable oils and wines, including spirits. Of the former produce the United States imported into Colombia $14,326, while France introduced $67,480. Wines and spirits were imported by the United States to the value of $41,028, while the importations of French and Spanish origin amounted during the same period to $945,557.
But it is likewise evident that a reduction of duties on these commodities would not be productive of any advantage to the American exporter. The vegetable oils manufactured in this country are the cotton seed and castor oil, which could not be employed as a substitute either for linseed oil as a menstruum for metallic paints, or for olive oil for culinary purposes, which constitute the French importations. So also with reference to alcoholic products. The wines and spirits of the United States, whatever the duties upon such articles might be, would neither in Colombia nor elsewhere take the place of the products of the French and Spanish vintages.
The preceding observations clearly establish that, as regards agricultural produce the growth of the United States, no reduction of import duties that might be made on such articles in Colombia would bring about an increased importation of the same, and such being the case, no advantage would accrue to this country from any reductions that might be effected of said duties. Under such circumstances action taken in the direction of lowering the import duties in Colombia on agricultural produce, with a view to benefit American interests, would not be followed by that result.
The free list of the tariff of Colombia, as regards articles of commerce, comprises timber and sawn lumber, wooden railway carriages and cars, frame buildings, and wooden houses. These are entirely American articles of import; hence, in the table often above referred to, wood and the manufactures of same, imported from the United States, appear for a value of $457,519, while other countries figure only to the amount of $79,152. On the free list are also included iron and steel rails, spikes, and other railway fixtures; iron and steel bridges, gas-work plant, tubes and lamps for public lighting, lightning conductors, building material, etc.
If these articles be not special fabrics of the United States they are at least of a nature which this country can supply in competition with any other. So, again referring to the table of comparative imports into Colombia, we find under the heading “Manufactures of iron and steel,” that the United States imported articles valued at $710,492, which amounts to twice as much as the collective imports of France and Spain, and to 30 per cent in excess of the importation of Great Britain under the same heading.
The free list of the tariff of Colombia is therefore particularly favorable to United States products, some of the most important of which besides, although not absolutely free, only pay a nominal duty; as, for instance, machinery. Thus a steam motor, for example, of from 50 to 100 horsepower, with steam generator and corresponding fixtures, [Page 455] weighing, say, from 10 to 15 tons, the price of which would be in the factory from $4,000 to $7,000 dollars, would be subject upon entering into Colombia to a duty of from $55 to $72.50, United States currency. Another example: A private carriage, say, a two-wheel buggy, supposed to weigh 70 kilos, or about 150 pounds, would incur a duty upon being landed in Colombia of $1.92, United States currency. A four-wheel leather-hood carriage, weighing about 450 pounds, would be assessed at $6 import duty, which would be less than the duty on the leather, cloth, and trimmings if passed separately through the customhouse.
I have been directed, lastly, to call to your mind the liberal action taken by the Government of Colombia when, upon the completion of the railroad across the Isthmus of Panama, it declared the ports at both extremities of the line to be free ports, which was done for the benefit of interoceanic trade. Later on, at the earnest solicitations and endeavors of the Government of the United States, the vessels entering either of said ports were exempted from tonnage and other dues. For nearly forty years the commerce of the United States has enjoyed and continues to enjoy these advantages; and it is submitted that they deserve recognition and entitle the commerce of Colombia with the United States to the benefits and advantages that may be granted to that of any other nation.
The United States merchandise imported for consumption on the isthmus from the Atlantic and Pacific ports by way of Colon and Panama, respectively, represents more than 35 per cent of the total export trade to Colombia. If the trade in free goods through other ports of Colombia amounts to 5 per cent of the total export trade from this country, which maybe assumed to be the case, then 40 per cent of the shipments from the United States to Colombia enters free of duty. It is submitted that this last-mentioned fact, taken in Connection with what precedes, manifests, under an American point of view, a satisfactory position of the trade relations between the two countries.
Accept, etc.,