This survey deals with the synthetic resins, the nature and trade in the raw materials necessary for their production, the processes by which they are made, trade in them in the United States and between nations, and the nature of the competition which they meet. It does not go into the details of manufacture of and trade in the multitude of articles made of synthetic resins but stops at the point where these materials are turned over to the resin fabricator. The synthetic resins are but one of four broad groups of organic plastics. The others—natural resins, cellulose ethers and esters, and protein plastics—are discussed herein only as they relate to or compete with the synthetic resins. The purpose of the survey is to bring together in one publication the available information on synthetic resins so as to provide a basis for consideration of future tariff problems. Because the industries involved are comparatively young and are expanding rapidly, their present day importance is not generally realized. The rapidity with which the synthetic resin industry is developing causes any comprehensive report on the subject to be practically out of date before it can be published. Notwithstanding the progress made each year in the quantity of production, new applications, and new commercial products, the industry may be said to be still in the industrial nursery. This circumstance necessarily limits the period during which any treatment of the subject will be representative. Fundamental definitions. The scope of this report has been stated to include synthetic resins up to the point where they are further manufactured, and the raw materials used in producing them. It was also stated that natural resins and synthetic plastics other than resins, such as the cellulose compounds and modified rubber compounds, are excluded. The boundaries of these categories are therefore important.[1] The term “resin” was formerly applied exclusively to a group of natural products, principally of vegetable origin, although at least one important resin, shellac, is of animal origin.[2] These natural resins are widely used in paints, varnishes, and lacquers for decorative and protective surface coatings. They also have extensive use in textile impregnation, adhesives, soap, paper, and in cold-molded articles. In recent years the natural resins have had to compete with synthetic products, and each gravitates toward uses which demand the quality or combination of qualities which it can most completely supply.