U.S. Tariff Commission, To the President: This report is made pursuant to section 351(d)(1) of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (76 Stat. 900), which provides that- So long as any increase in, or imposition of, any duty or other import restriction pursuant to this section or pursuant to section 7 of the Trade Agreements Extension Act of 1951 remains in effect, the Tariff Commission shall keep under review developments with respect to the industry concerned, and shall make annual reports to the President concerning such developments. Introduction Pursuant to various concessions granted in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the United States reduced the rates of duty applicable to sheet glass in 1948, 1951, and 1956-58. Following a Tariff Commission investigation under the escape-clause procedure of the Trade Agreements Extension Act of 1951, the President modified the concessions on such glass by increasing the rates of duty, effective at the close of business June 17, 1962. On January 11, 1967, the President, pursuant to the provisions of section 351(c)(1)(A) of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, terminated some of the aforementioned increases in the rates that had been imposed under the escape-clause procedure and reduced others. The latter rates (i.e., the modified escape-action rates) were scheduled to 1/ Since 1951, concession rates have not applied to imports from countries or areas designated by the President as Communist controlled. terminate at the close of October 11, 1967, unless extended by the President. Following a report made by the Tariff Commission on September 8, 1/ 1967, the President extended, until the close of December 31, 1969, all rates of duty on sheet glass that were higher than the trade-agreement rates. For the purpose of this report, sheet glass is discussed under three general categories--thin sheet glass, window glass, and heavy sheet glass--which, on a weight basis, are designated as follows: Window glass measuring 100 united inches (length plus width) or less is currently dutiable at rates significantly higher than the trade-agreement rates. Window glass measuring over 100 united inches, all thin sheet glass, and all heavy sheet glass are dutiable at the trade-agreement rates (table 1). The modified escape-action rates of duty currently applicable to imports of window glass, as well as the trade-agreement rates scheduled to become effective at the close of December 31, 1969, and the ad valorem equivalents of those rates, based on 1967 imports, are as follows: 1/ U.S. Tariff Commission, Sheet Glass (Blown or Drawn Flat Glass): Report to the President on Investigation No. TEA-I-EX-4 Under Section 351(d)(3) of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, TC Publication 215, 1967 (processed). For window glass measuring not over 40 united inches, the current (modified escape-action) rate reflects a duty reduction of 15 percent below the escape-action rate effective before January 11, 1967; for window glass measuring over 40 but not over 60 united inches, 6 percent; and for that measuring over 60 but not over 100 united inches, 21 percent. Reductions from the current rates amounting to 36, 40, and 27 percent, respectively, will occur when the modified escape-action rates expire on December 31, 1969. Inasmuch as increased rates of duty remain in effect for a particular category of sheet glass, the Commission is required, under the provisions of section 351(d)(1) of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, to make an annual report on developments with respect to the sheet glass industry. This report presents data for all sheet glass as well as for the three categories of such glass; it is confined principally to developments that have occurred since those described in the Commission's report of September 8, 1967. U.S. Consumption The apparent U.S. consumption of sheet glass was 7.5 percent lower in 1967 than in 1966, marking the third consecutive year that such consumption had declined (table 3). The apparent consumption of window 1/ glass, was slightly higher (1 percent) in 1967 than in 1966, but that of thin and heavy sheet glass was lower by 46 and 16 percent, respectively (table 5). The reduced consumption of sheet glass in 1967 is attributable primarily to a decline in automobile production and a sluggishness in residential construction--the principal markets for sheet glass (table 4). 1/ Data on U.S. consumption, production, and shipments of window glass include such glass measuring over 100 united inches because data thereon cannot be segregated in the statistics obtained from the U.S. producers. Window glass measuring over 100 united inches constitutes only a small portion of total U.S. consumption, production, and shipments of such glass. In 1966 window glass made up about 60 percent, thin glass about 4 percent, and heavy glass about 36 percent of the apparent U.S. consumption. Corresponding ratios for 1967 were 65, 2, and 33 percent, respectively, reflecting the increased importance of window glass in the U.S. sheet glass market in 1967. Preliminary data for January-June 1968 indicate that the apparent U.S. consumption of all sheet glass, as well as that of window glass, was higher than that in the comparable period in 1967. U.S. Producers In 1967, 6 firms produced sheet glass in 1 plants in the United States, including a new plant on the West Coast which began operations early in that year. Early in 1968 one of the plants located in Pennsylvania was shut down. On June 30, 1968, 4 establishments were producing sheet glass in West Virginia, 2 in Oklahoma, and 1 each in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Arkansas, Ohio, Illinois, California, and Tennessee. The 6 firms were operating 27 glass furnaces (or tanks) with attached glass-drawing machines in June 1968. Not all of the drawing machines in operation at this time, however, drew glass for sale to the trade; some were used to draw glass for experimental purposes. About 10 percent of productive capacity was idled by furnace shutdowns for repair or modifications in 1967 and the first half of 1968. The U.S. sheet glass industry continued to modify production facilities |