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Photo credit: Athewma |
Examining HTS 9705's broader trade
category of "collections and collectors' pieces of zoological, botanical,
mineralogical, anatomical, historical, archeological, paleontological,
ethnographic or numismatic interest" reveals that the U.K. is the
largest cultural property supplier to the U.S. of these types of goods.
In fact, numbers
compiled from the United Nations Statistics Division show that
the U.K. is the world's premiere exporter by value of HTS 9705 property. The most recent information available indicates that
the U.K. exported HTS 9705 goods amounting to $155,020,581 in 2011. That is about equivalent to Dayton, Ohio's city budget.
Other
large suppliers to the world include the U.S. ($113,099,923),
Switzerland ($98,675,789), France ($71,241,772), Hong Kong ($70,835,291),
Canada ($42,695,548), Netherlands ($27,677,428), South Africa ($18,882,248),
Austria ($15,231,914), and Spain ($12,658,111). The U.K. outpaced
the U.S. by nearly $42 million in additional exports, the approximate amount of Canada's exports.
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The massive C-5 Galaxy. Photo credit: U.S.A.F. Tech. Sgt. Charlie Miller |
Of particular note, the
Netherlands zoomed well beyond other nations in terms of weight with 1,705,030
kilograms (3,761,152 pounds) of HTS 9705 exports. That is approximately the weight of ten massive C-5 Galaxy transport planes.
The U.K.'s export data should agree
with the U.S.'s import data. Borrowing from an idea used by Raymond Fisman and
Shang-Jin Wei of Columbia University and published in "The Smuggling of
Art and the Art of Smuggling: Uncovering the Illicit Trade in Cultural Property
and Antiques,"
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2009,
1:3, 82-96, U.K. export data was compared with U.S. import data. It
should be mentioned at the outset that,
according to gov.uk, U.K. export numbers rely on commodity code
97050000, "collections and
collectors' pieces of zoological, botanical, mineralogical, anatomical,
historical, archeological, paleontological, ethnographic or numismatic
interest."
The classification is said to be the equivalent of Standard
International Trade Classification (SITC) 896.50, defined as "
Collections And Collectors' Pieces Of
Zoological, Botanical, Mineralogical, Anatomical, Historical, Archaeological,
Numismatic, Etc. Interest." Unfortunately, there is no further break down
of the 9700000/896.50 export data into specific archaeological,
historical, and ethnological objects.
So it is not possible to directly compare HTS 9705.00.0070 imports into
the U.S. with the exact numbers for U.K. exports. The best comparison
that can be made is examining HTS 9705 imports to the U.S. and 97050000/SITC
896.50 exports from the U.K. The numbers do not match.
To reiterate, the U.S.'s HTS 9705 imports from the U.K. totaled over $38
million in 2012. But the U.K.'s equivalent exports totaled £47423291
or approximately $76,046,377, applying the
currency exchange rate published on December 1, 2012. The export data
come from HM Revenue and Customs, and the agency lists double the amount of America's recorded imports. The
reason for this large discrepancy between the U.K's export numbers and the U.S.'s import numbers of the same goods needs to be studied further. The data
nevertheless reinforce the notion that the U.K. is a preeminent exporter of HTS 9705
property.
It is no surprise then that the U.K. takes first place on the U.S.'s 2012 top 20 list of HTS 9705 cultural property imports for consumption of collections
and collectors' pieces of zoological, botanical, mineralogical, anatomical,
historical, archeological, paleontological, ethnographic or numismatic
interest, ranked by customs value and supplying nation. Other nations follow behind:
United Kingdom $38,158,210
Italy $23,083,181
China $19,364,785
Switzerland $12,710,914
Canada $10,279,170
Germany $8,873,106
France $7,661,173
Australia $5,986,012
Spain $5,957,395
Egypt $5,746,759
Turkey $4,919,196
Poland $3,372,543
Greece $3,127,905
South Africa $2,671,704
Mexico $1,775,560
India $1,746,985
Israel $1,499,005
Russia $1,313,756
Netherlands $1,285,472
Brazil $952,324
This post is researched, written,
and published on the blog Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire at
culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com.
Text copyrighted 2012 by Ricardo A. St. Hilaire, Attorney & Counselor
at Law, PLLC. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of this post is
prohibited. CONTACT:
www.culturalheritagelawyer.com