{3 
FOREIGN TRADE ZONES 
wise be the right to repack into containers suitable to the trade and 
regulations of the respective markets; to sort to meet the taste and 
demands of the various people of the earth. It is necessary only to 
refer to the information given under the heading “Operations per- 
mitted and prohibited in free ports of Europe’ to make fully apparent 
the paramount importance of these operations. 
The establishment of free ports in this country would offer to 
importers the opportunity to buy goods in large quantities, frequently 
at more favorable prices; to sort these goods, sending into the United 
States, after payment of duties, the grades and quantities suitable 
for our trade, and reexporting the remainder, either alone or in 
conjunction with other goods, to the various markets conveniently 
reached by the vessel lines touching at the free ports. While awaiting 
sale the goods in a free port are not subject to any expense except 
storage and insurance. They are not under customs control, and 
the importer is free to exhibit them, to take orders, to divide the 
parcels and repack to suit customers’ wishes. : 
In the various bearings before the Committee on Commerce of ‘the 
Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
Representatives in relation to the matter of establishing free ports 
in the United States numerous examples of the delay, embarrassment, 
and expense involved to importers which would have been obviated 
in a free port have been cited. Numerous examples have also been 
given of the manner in which the free port would permit the develop- 
ment of transshipment and consignment business. The possibilities 
with reference to such comthodities as rice, beans, coffee, tea, furs, 
rubber, wool, and hides have been set forth in these hearings and in 
the hearings held by the United States Tariff Commission. 
EFFECT OF THE FREE PORT ON THE EXPORTER 
It has been claimed that our exporters lose orders because they are 
not able to meet all the requirements of the foreign buyer. The 
buyer wishes to place an order for a varied list of goods, some of 
which are of American manufacture, while some are products of other 
countries. In Hamburg or London, he can generally secure all of 
the needed items, including the American goods. But in this country 
where reexport trade has been surrounded with many embarrass- 
ments, it is less likely that he can do so. 
The free port encourages diversified shipping service. It attracts 
vessels from the smaller countries and from countries producing 
mainly raw materials, in order to bring these commodities together in 
a common market place for further distribution. The feeder lines 
likewise give the service necessary to place exports in these countries. 
Advantages to the exporter are therefore not confined to the opportu- 
nity to supply all the goods which the foreign buyer demands, but