Synthetic resins and their raw materials: A survey of the types and uses of synthetic resins, the organization of the industry, and the trade in resins and raw materials, with particular references to factors essential to tariff consideration. Under the general provisions of section 332, title III, part II, Tariff act of 1930

In Short

This report by the United States Tariff Commission presents a comprehensive economic and technical examination of the mid-20th-century synthetic resin industry. It outlines how raw coal tar, natural gas, and agricultural wastes are chemicalized into plastics, lacquers, and synthetic rubber, while analyzing global trade flows, domestic production costs, and foreign competition. Written to inform American trade policy and tariff legislation under the Tariff Act of 1930, the document stands as a vital historical snapshot recording the moment synthetic polymers permanently altered modern manufacturing, global trade, and everyday consumer culture.

The Story

The volume opens by establishing the rapid industrial expansion of synthetic resins, charting their movement from specialized laboratory novelties to foundational materials across major consumer and commercial sectors. Early sections detail the wide range of applications: laminated resin panels installed in store fronts, hotel lobbies, the liner Queen Mary, and the Library of Congress annex; urea resin lamp shades mounted in Pullman train cars; and acrylic retrodirective optical reflectors deployed along Michigan highways to guide night motorists.

The report then traces the scientific lineage connecting finished polymers to their foundational raw materials. Most commercial resins derive directly or indirectly from coal-tar distillation or petroleum cracking. Heating coke and lime in electric furnaces yields calcium carbide, producing acetylene gas—the foundational block for vinyl resins, acrylics, and synthetic rubber like Neoprene. Similarly, destructive distillation of coal produces styrene and tar acids like phenol and cresol, while agricultural byproducts like oat hulls yield furfural. The text outlines how major industrial players invest heavy capital into research to commercialize these chemical chains, ensuring that once a resin reaches production, its market adoption becomes self-sustaining.

Moving into international commerce, the report evaluates import and export figures, tariff schedules, and patent disputes. Prior to the First World War, essential chemical processes—such as synthesizing phthalic anhydride—were heavily concentrated in Europe. War-era research led to independent American discoveries, such as the vapor phase catalytic oxidation process developed by Gibbs and Conover in 1916. A parallel discovery by Alfred Wohl in Germany sparked years of international patent litigation, eventually resolved by the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals in favor of the German inventor.

Despite foreign patents, American import volumes of coal-tar resins remained negligible through the 1930s. The Commission attributes this to high domestic tariff duties, rapid expansion of American manufacturing, patent protection, and cartel-like market allocations between international affiliates. Meanwhile, major trade partners like Germany expanded their global resin exports throughout the decade, sending nonhardening and hardening resins across Europe and Latin America.

The survey concludes by analyzing specific industry dependencies and chemical fractionations. It maps out how the booming automotive, radio, and electrical manufacturing sectors absorb vast quantities of molded and laminated resins for insulation, timing gears, instrument panels, and safety glass. To meet this demand without driving up costs, domestic refiners instituted "topping"—a process that extracts light chemical fractions like naphthalene and cresols while leaving residual fuel for steel furnaces. Comprehensive appendixes catalog trade names, manufacturer lists, and detailed tariff provisions, fully documenting the domestic infrastructure built to secure American chemical independence.

How It Unfolds

Mapping the synthetic landscape The survey begins by surveying the commercial applications of new plastics across architecture, transit, and consumer goods. It demonstrates how low production costs allow synthetic polymers to rapidly replace traditional wood, glass, and metal fixtures.

Tracing the chemical roots The narrative turns to raw materials, detailing how coal tar, petroleum, and farm wastes like oat hulls yield intermediate chemicals like acetylene, styrene, and phthalic anhydride. It explains the polymerization processes that transform basic molecules into durable vinyl, alkyd, and acrylate resins.

Contesting international markets and patents The text reviews global trade statistics, import tariffs, and key patent battles that shaped the chemical industry after World War I. It highlights the fierce legal competition between American government researchers and German industrial trusts over crucial manufacturing patents.

Supplying modern industrial giants The focus shifts to domestic consumption, showing how the auto, radio, and electrical industries incorporated resins into mass production. Electrical firms and auto makers established in-house molding operations to supply their own assembly lines with insulated parts and decorative trim.

Refining production and trade policy The report closes with technical data on coal-tar distillation practices, such as "topping," alongside detailed breakdowns of import duties, foreign export markets, and trade-name directories.

The People

Because this text is an official government report rather than a work of narrative fiction, its "characters" are the chemical compounds, industrial firms, and scientific innovators driving the plastics revolution.

• Phthalic Anhydride and the Tar Acids: The foundational chemical intermediates that serve as the narrative's central subjects. Phenol, cresol, xylenol, and phthalic anhydride seek broad commercial utilization; their primary obstacle is high distillation costs, which chemical refiners overcome through new methods like "topping" coal tar.
• Gibbs and Conover: American researchers at the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils who developed a catalytic oxidation process in 1916 to produce cheap phthalic anhydride, aiming to free domestic industry from foreign monopolies by assigning their patent to the American public.
• Alfred Wohl: The German chemist who independently discovered the same air-oxidation process in the laboratories of the German I.G. trust. His legal effort to claim priority led to a lengthy legal struggle that ended when the U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals validated his 1916 filing.
• E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., General Electric, and Ford: Representative industrial giants that invested heavy research capital into synthetic chemistry, establishing vertical integration by manufacturing their own resins for automobile bodies, electrical insulation, and synthetic rubber.

In Its Own Voice

"The liner Queen Mary is paneled, in part, with laminated resins, as is the annex to the Library of Congress."

This observation showcases how quickly synthetic materials moved from experimental industrial labs into prestigious international luxury liners and civic landmarks.

"By a remarkable coincidence the same basic process was developed in Germany, by Alfred Wohl... at almost the same time that Gibbs and Conover made their discovery."

This context introduces a major legal conflict over chemical patents, highlighting the intense international competition driving early 20th-century industrial chemistry.

"Synthetic rubber is higher in price than natural rubber, but it has certain properties which make it suitable for service conditions where natural rubber is unsatisfactory."

The report explains how specialized performance characteristics allowed high-cost synthetic polymers like Neoprene to secure crucial market positions despite cheaper natural alternatives.

What It's Really About

At its core, this report is about the industrial transition from natural material dependence to synthetic self-sufficiency. It documents how modern chemistry dismantled traditional supply constraints by converting raw industrial wastes—like coal tar, petroleum gas, and agricultural residues—into valuable consumer materials. Beyond the chemistry, the book is an argument for strategic trade policy. It explores how tariff rates, patent protection, and domestic manufacturing capacity intersect to build national industrial independence. By capturing the structural shifts within the interwar chemical industry, the text illustrates how state policy and private capital combined to forge the modern material world.

Why Read It Today

This document offers an unvarnished, contemporary view into the origin story of the modern plastic age. Economic historians, researchers of technology, and readers curious about material history will appreciate the precision with which the U.S. Tariff Commission cataloged an industrial revolution in progress. Reading it feels like looking through an archive of early-stage corporate capitalism, where chemical equations directly shaped international trade disputes and domestic economic planning.

The reading experience requires navigating dense trade tables, chemical distillation lists, and legal policy citations. However, beneath the dry, institutional prose lies a fascinating portrait of an era when materials taken for granted today—such as vinyl, acrylics, synthetic rubber, and resin paneling—were novel technological breakthroughs reshaping transportation, architecture, and consumer manufacturing.