694.113Lumber/85
The Chargé in Japan (Neville) to the
Secretary of State
[Extracts]
Tokyo, April 4, 1929.
[Received April
29.]
No. 1139
Sir: I have the honor to refer to my telegram
No. 35 of April 1, 1929,41 in which I reported the receipt of a reply from the
Foreign Office to the Memorandum left with the Vice Minister for Foreign
Affairs on March 23, 1929, which is enclosed herewith.
. . . . . . .
The statements in the Foreign Office Memorandum seem to be quite accurate
so far as they go. At the present time kedar is not much of a competitor
with American lumber so far as concerns total quantity of American woods
consumed. It remains to be seen, however, whether this wood will not in
the future become a serious competitor when not subject to the import
tax imposed upon American lumber. The wood may become somewhat cheaper
in price than the latter and may be substituted for American woods in
much of the building in Japan.
. . . . . . .
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure—Translation]
The Japanese Ministry for
Foreign Affairs to the American
Embassy
No. 27/C1
The Department of Foreign Affairs are in receipt of the Memorandum of
the United States Embassy, dated March 23rd, 1929, concerning the
tariff on lumber, and have the honor to state in reply as follows:
- 1.
- In the Bill for the Revision of the Tariff on Lumber, the
Tariff rates are differentiated according to the kind of
woods, the differentiation being in no way concerned with
the place of origin of woods. The woods covered by F–4, 1,
Tariff No. 612 in the Bill, namely, the genus Abies, the genus Picea, the genus Pinus and
the genus Larix
[Page 264] are produced not
only in Eastern Asia, but in North America as well and in
plenty (e. g., Noble Fir corresponding to the genus Abies; Spruce to the genus Picea; Sugar Pine, Western White
Pine, Yellow Pine, etc., to the genus Pinus; and Larch to the genus Larix). It follows, therefore, that woods of
American origin corresponding to the said four genuses are
all subject to the tariff rates under F–4 referred to
above.
- 2.
- Kedar or Benimatsu belongs to the genus Pinus and happens not to be produced in the United
States, but it is different from Douglas Fir and other North
American lumber in nature and in the principal uses to which
it is put. As a matter of fact, more than half the Benimatsu
logs actually imported are made into ordinary boards 3 bu 5
rin (4.2 inches) to 6 bu (7.2 inches) in thickness and of
other dimensions, and are used as floor boards, roof boards,
for making doors and other fittings, etc. The remainder is
used for making moulds, various kinds of wood-work, etc.
Generally speaking, Benimatsu is a rival of Todomatsu of the
genus Abies and of Ezomatsu of the
genus Picea, both of which are
produced in Eastern Asia.
- 3.
- As stated above, Kedar is limited in the uses to which it
is put, and, unlike North American lumber, is not capable of
being used for general purposes. Moreover, its imports
amount to no more than between 500,000 and 700,000 koku* a year, viz, only 6
per cent, on the total imports of North American lumber. Nor
can any future increase be expected in the imports of Kedar,
when consideration is given to the condition of forests in
the place where it is produced and to the uses which are
made of this wood. In consequence, Kedar is worthy of no
particular consideration even from the viewpoint of
protecting Japanese forestry.
- 4.
- For the reasons set forth in the foregoing, American
lumber is not considered likely to suffer particularly from
the importation of Kedar. It will have been clearly seen
that the tariff in question is not designed to constitute
any discrimination against American lumber in respect of
Kedar, either in form or in fact.
