Mens Sewed Straw Hats | Page 2

was received from the National Association of Men's Straw Hat Manufacturers of America requesting an investigation looking toward an increase in the rate of duty on men's sewed straw hats, now dutiable at 60 per cent ad valorem under paragraph 1406 of the tariff act of 1922.
The domestic field work was carried on during the period August to October, 1924, and the foreign work in Italy and England during the period October, 1924, to February, 1925. After due notice, as prescribed by law, public hearings were held in the offices of the commission on June 12, 1924, and on May 4, 1925. The latter hearing was continued on May 14, 15, and 16, 1925. Oral argument was waived and the date for filing briefs was set for June 6, 1925.
Scope of the investigation.--Costs of production were obtained for hats sold in the straw hat season of 1924 by companies whose fiscal years ended at or about June 30, 1924. This period was the latest for which cost data could be obtained at the time the investigation was made.
Domestic costs were obtained from 19 concerns in Maryland, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The total production of these concerns amounted to 718,265 dozen hats. Of this number, 553,253 dozen were men's sewed straw hats. The 19 concerns produce approximately 85 per cent of the men's sewed straw hats in the United States and include makers of cheap, medium, and high-priced hats. They include nonmembers as well as members of the national association.
Costs were obtained in Italy from five concerns and in England from three concerns exporting men's sewed straw hats to the United States.
Both domestic and foreign straw hat factories are characterized by lack of standardization in production. Variations exist in the quality of the hats manufactured by different establishments, because of variations in the type and quality of the braid, in the quality of the trimming materials, such as leather sweat and silk bands, and in the amount of hand labor employed in the finishing processes. Because of these variations, it was considered inadvisable to compare the average costs of production of all hats of the domestic concerns with the average of all foreign hats. Evidence submitted at the preliminary hearing and data in the possession of the commission indicated that competition between domestic and foreign straw hats centered chiefly on three types, split sennits of 13/15 millimeter braid, improved sennits of 16/18 millimeter braid, and flatfoot sennits of 16/18 millimeter braid. The commission's cost comparisons were therefore confined to hats of these specifications.
INFORMATION OBTAINED IN THE INVESTIGATION
From the commission's investigation of men's sewed straw hats, conducted as indicated above, the following information has been obtained:
DOMESTIC PRODUCTION
The manufacture of men's straw hats has been conducted on a commercial scale in the United States for upward of 50 years. The industry is centered in and around New York City, in a number of cities in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and in Baltimore, Md. Statistics of production of men's sewed straw hats are not available, since the census of manufactures does not distinguish between men's and women's hats nor between sewed hats and woven hats. Domestic manufacturers estimate that the value of the men's straw hats produced in 1914 was $12,000,000, or about 45 per cent of the total production of all straw hats. In 1920 the value of the total production of men's straw hats was estimated at $20,000,000, of which about $12,000,000 was men's sewed hats. At the preliminary hearing it was estimated that the average annual production of men's sewed straw hats in recent years amounted to 800,000 dozen. There are about 40 manufacturers of men's sewed straw hats in the United States. The majority are well established firms.
The production of men's sewed straw hats for the season 1923-24 of 19 factories for which costs were obtained was 553,253 dozen. The factories may be classified as follows:
TABLE 1.--Domestic straw-hat factories grouped according to annual production
------------------------------------+--------+------------+---------- | Number | Production | Per cent | | | of total ------------------------------------+--------+------------+---------- | | Dozen | Group I. Factories with annual | | | production of | | | 50,000 dozen and over | 4 | 265,767 | 48.0 Group II. Factories with annual | | | production of | | | 25,000-49,000 dozen | 4 | 122,936 | 22.2 Group III. Factories with annual | | | production of less | | | than 25,000 dozen | 11 | 164,550 | 29.8 +--------+------------+---------- Total production | | 553,253 | 100.0 ------------------------------------+--------+------------+----------
Kinds of hats produced.--There are two general types of men's straw hats produced by the domestic manufacturers:
(1) Woven hats, such as panamas, etc. The bodies of these hats are imported in the rough and are shaped, finished, and trimmed in this country.
(2) Sewed hats. All of the operations necessary in the manufacture of a