THE TRACTOR MARKET IN
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ITALY.
Toward the end of the war, large numbers of American tractors were bought by the Italian Government, thus causing a surplus on the market after the close of hostilities. Proper care was not given the tractors, however, and they deteriorated rapidly, with the result that now a fair market exists for new machines.
Sore Italian manufacturers—the Fiat Co., for example—produce tractors, but certain types of foreign tractor have been imported. For a time it was difficult to import them, because the compound duties imposed on motorcars were also charged on tractors. These, • in addition to heavy specific rates on weight, included a 3:5 per cent, ad valorem duty.
The Board of Tariff finally ruled that this duty did not refer to tractors; only the specific duties on weight were to be paid, and not the supplementary charge on value. Since that time some tractors have been imported, including a number of types of German machine, and an American tractor has been widely sold, with the result that the Italian tractor industry has been, to some extent, retarded: