treasury department—first section., January 1, 1872

treasury department—first section.

I have the honor to send you copies of the tariff for the maritime and frontier custom-houses of the republic, which the President has to-day decreed, by virtue of the faculties granted him in the third article of the law of December 1, 1871.

The President believes that he could not have used the faculties with which congress invested him in a manner more advantageous to the interests of legitimate commerce and of the federal treasury than by establishing the tariff which has so long been pending, and the lack of which paralyzed commercial operations and considerably diminished the receipts of the treasury.

The President has not deemed the present crisis a proper time to introduce radical changes in the existing tariff, and has judged that, on the contrary, the task of the executive should rather be limited to its simplification and codification, accepting, in general, as the basis of the new tariff, the provisions of the existing ordinance and laws.

The new tariff has been formed upon this principle, and by it the executive believes that the following advantages will be gained:

• To reduce to a single amount the various duties now paid, under different names, by foreign goods, on their importation into the republic, some in the maritime customhouses, and some in other offices, either levied directly upon such goods or upon the Mexican products exported for their payment, and to make, at the same time, a reduction upon the amount paid.
• To fix the import duties, as a rule, in a given amount, employing the ad valorem basis only in cases where a specified duty cannot be provided.
• To add to the tariff-list many articles not found in the present ordinance, thus avoiding the inconvenience of the arbitrary imposts now collected on such goods. The number of articles classified in the present ordinance is 525, while in the new tariff it is more than 800.
• To abolish prohibitions.
• To increase, as far as possible, the list of free goods, exempting them from all dues, while the present tariff only frees them from a part. In the ordinance of January 31, 1856, the number of articles on the free list is 34, while in the new tariff they number 63.
• To abolish onerous restrictions upon the internal circulation of foreign goods that have paid importation duties.
• To establish uniform duties upon foreign goods, which produces the advantage of equalizing mercantile operations throughout the nation.
• To exempt national vessels from light-house dues, and collect them from foreign vessels only in the ports where light-houses exist.
• To provide that pilotage dues be paid only by vessels that call for pilots.
• To grant all possible privileges to foreign commerce, thus facilitating the exportation of Mexican products, and opening our coasts to exportation trade.
• To authorize the exportation of bullion, in so far as the good faith of the nation, pledged to the lessees of mints, will allow.
• To authorize the transit of foreign goods across Mexican territory.
• To simplify, as far as possible, the operations of custom-houses to the advantage of importation.
• To comply with the law of March 15, 1857, which established the decimal-metrical system of weights and measures; and
• To combine in a single ordinance the various provisions concerning foreign commerce that are scattered through many laws now in force, which cannot readily be consulted, especially by exporters in foreign countries.

At first sight, it would appear that the tariff rates have been increased, since, on comparing them with the present tariff, they are in fact found to be higher. This difference is explained in two ways. Firstly, in the new tariff all the importation duties on foreign goods now paid into the federal treasury, under different names, and which do not appear in the lists of the present tariff, are brought together; and, secondly, the new duties are based upon the meter and kilogram as units of measure and weight, instead of the yard and pound, now employed for that purpose. Foreign goods now pay to the federal treasury upon their importation into the republic the following duties:

The operation of reducing all these duties to a single impost was therefore equivalent to that of adding 132. 50 per cent, to the present importation duties. From this amount a deduction of 12. 50 per cent, was made, so that the actual increase was 120 per cent.

It may be alleged that the excise duty is only paid by goods consumed within the federal district, and that, by consolidating it with importation duties, it is really imposed upon goods consumed outside of the district. This consideration diminishes in importance when we remember that the goods consumed in the federal district form the greater part of those imported at Vera Cruz, and that the latter amount to half of those consumed in the republic. It is also a fact that, in most of the States, if not in all, excise duties are levied equivalent on the average to those of the federal district.

Nevertheless, the President, believing that a prudent reduction of the importation duties, along with the other provisions of the new tariff in favor of commerce, might be efficacious to increase the customs receipts, determined to make the said reduction of 12.50 per cent., which may be held to represent the excise duty, and to be equivalent to its abolition.

If the new importation duties appear higher than the present ones, let it be remembered that the additional duties above mentioned, amounting to 132.50 per cent., and also those upon cotton and tobacco, are included therein, and will cease to be collected separately from and after the 1st of July, 1872.

The term designated for the new tariff to be put in force is thought to be sufficient to protect commerce from loss in its pending orders for goods. In order to facilitate the observance of the new tariff, the President has sanctioned a code of regulations for maritime and frontier custom-houses, drawn up in consonance with the new tariff and which is also promulgated this day.

The President trusts that the practical results of the new tariff will abundantly prove the advantages it offers to legitimate commerce, and to the federal treasury.

Independence and liberty!