Satement of the amount of flour exported from the United Years. No. barrels. Value. Statement of the amount of coffee imported into the United Years. Value. 10,473,773 In the annexed statement, the estimate of the amount of duties paid in the ports of Brazil, on the domestic exports from the United States, is made from the following data, viz: The base of collection is 15 per cent. on fixed valuations-5 per cent. additional 20 per cent.; the fixed valuation is almost invariably much above the true value. Articles not enumerated in the tariff, pay a per centage on a valuation by the importer; the right of claiming goods so valued, being vested in the custom-house officers, on payment of the valuation and 10 per cent. additional. From these data, 23 per cent. on the invoice value is assumed as the minimum rate of duty. Summary statement showing the amount of imports from, and exports to, the United States and Brazil, respectively, during the commercial years 1838, 1839, and 1840, with an estimate of the amount of duties paid in the ports of Brazil, on the domestic exports of the United States. TARIFF OF IMPORTATION INTO BRAZIL. The duty on foreign goods is throughout the empire 15 per cent, on valuations fixed by the tariff, except wines and spirituous liquors, (the produce of countries not having a commercial treaty with Brazil,) which pay 48 per cent.; gunpowder, which pays 50 per cent.; and tea which pays 30 per cent. The valuation of all articles not enumerated in the tariff is made by the importer; the right, however, being vested in the officers of the customs to take goods so valued, on payment of the valuation and 10 per cent. additional. Free of duty.-Coals, steam engines, and any machinery or invention not previously known and in use in Brazil. Imports pay, beside the duties above named, 14 per cent. entry, and 34 storage, in right of which dry goods are entitled to four months; those articles denominated estive goods are allowed 30 days' storage free of charge. After the expiration of the respective periods, both descriptions are charged per cent. per month. Manufactures of linen cambric, silk thread, or gold lace, and precious stones, are exempt from the charge of storage; also foreign goods from other ports of the empire, if accompanied by the necessary certificate. Additional charges on liquids, 10 cents per pipe for the Misericordia hospital, and 68 cents per pipe of 132 gallons for the municipal bureau. Transhipment.-If for the coast of Africa, the same duties have to be paid as for importation; for other places 2 per cent., and 14 per cent. for clearance. Port charges.-Vessels trading with foreign ports pay tonnage dues at the rate of 30 reis (.01.7 nearly) per ton per diem, not exceeding 50 days, to be estimated from the date of entry. Vessels which shall land at any port of the empire more than 100 white colonists, or which may put into any port of Brazil in distress, neither loading nor discharging cargo, are exempt from the payment of these dues. Additional charges: For every sailor For every three-masted vessel Having less than three masts For stamp and seal The pass of every national, English, or Portuguese vessel For a vessel of any other nation 37 cts. 3 m. $3 48 2 32 46 cts. 4 m. 3.90 5 93 The only unexpired commercial treaty is that with Great Britain, which will terminate on the 5th November, 1842. VENEZUELA. A treaty of peace, navigation, commerce, and friendship, exists between the United States and the republic of Venezuela. The tariff in force from the time of the separation of the Colombian States, until 1834, was based on the Spanish system of per centages on arbitrary values. Since that period it has undergone many changes-the system of specific and ad valorem duties having been substituted. By the tariff of 1838, all articles for the promotion of science, internal improvement, manufactures, and agriculture, were admitted free; salt, indigo, cocoa, sugar, cotton, molasses, and spirits from the sugar cane, were prohibited. In consequence of an expected failure of the crops, a supplement to the tariff for 1841 diminishes the duty on many articles of produce of the United States, and admits free all kinds of bread-stuffs, with the exception of flour. It also removes the prohibition on cotton and indigo. Having been at peace during a series of years, Venezuela has been rapidly developing her vast national resources, and advancing in civil and commercial prosperity. The tables which follow, from the annual reports of the Secretary of the Treasury of Venezuela, show the amount of commercial capital employed, and the revenue derived from the duties. As appears by these tables, the trade of the United States had fallen off in 1839. This was partly owing to the embarrassment of the monetary affairs of the United States, and partly to the quietly but rapidly increasing trade of the Hanseatic cities. The export trade of the United States is confined at the present time almost wholly to provisions. |