The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-03-05
RUSSIAN
SUGAR.
A Counterva.iIin!g
Duty and Its
Reason.
DOES BEAR TAX
YANKEE EXPORTS?
Treasury Secretary Gage Explains
Why the Duty Was
Placed.
Especial correspondence.l

, yASHINGTON,- D. c., Feb. ITO
: SAI test the question to whether
!. w or not the Russian Government
. Is in reality paying an export
, tax upon sugar which finds its way
= into these markets, the Secretary of
= the Treasury has placed a countervail-
: ing duty of GA kopecks, or about 80
cents per pood, Sc pounds, upon all re-
fined sugars which are imported into
this Country from Russia.
> This matter has been under the eye
. of Secretary Gage for several days and
. his action is the result of careful study
on his part and that of the Board of
General Appraisers. In making his de-
cision. Secretary Gage says:
, In the present case the facts are in
| volved and the conclusions to be drawn
from them correspondngly difficult.
AT the conference of delegates on the
. question of sugar bounties held in Brus-
sells in June, 1885 the Belgian and Aus
trian delegates commended that the Rus
sian Government regulations resulted in
. an indirect bounty on exported sugar
equal to the difference between the price
exclusive of excise tax of sugar sold in
, that country for home consumption and
the price of sugar sold for export.
Russia, on the other hand, protests
with great vigor that by no act of hers
!, 4
on the expectation of sugar.
1T is represented that Russian sugar
!, is sold for export at prices considerably
below the cost of production, and this
phenomenon appears to be in some de-
gree due to the regulation of the sugar
!. industry of that country by the Russian
Government.
DO the Russian Government regula-
tons have such bearing upon the facts
of the case as to bring Russian sugar
within the intent of said law as disclosed
by it's terms? While the question in its
initiative lies with the administration of
the Treasury Department, the question
is of judicial rather than of an admin
istratve character, and its Importance
demands determination by a judicial
tribunal. The board of general apprais-
ers constitutes such tribunal, and from
it's dec .sons appeal may be taken to the
United States courts.
AS an administrative officer, it is my
duty to determine questions of doubt in
favor of the Government, the more SO
that if l err in that direction the error
. can be readily corrected by a competent
: tribunal upon protest and appeal by
those adversely affected while if by my
acton the interests of the Government
are injuriously affected there is no rem
edy."
! Both the State Department and the
Treasury Department are being deluged
with kilograms from vast business in
terests protesting against the imposition
, of the countervallfng duty amounting to
nearly a cent pound on sugar import
ed from Russia. Nearly all of the cor
respondents urge that such action on the
part of the United States will prove
ruinous TO a magnificent export trade
with Russia which has already attained
to large proportions. with promise of an
enormous increase in the future, as the
Siberian railroad and new Pacific
steamship lines are opened up. -
Inquiry at the departments named
shows that the Secretary of the Treas
ury took this step, as set out in his let
ter yesterday, with great reluctance, and
only after the most patient investigation
into the merits o. the case. 1t was fully
realized that the result of the decision to
impose the differential duty would pro-
foundry and probably injuriously affect
the American trade in agricultural i'm
plementS, machinery, railway material
and rolling stock and other great staples
OF export to Russia. But it appeared
that there was no way out of 1t if the
law was to be enforced. and the Score
tary was obliged to negative the Russian
contention that the Russian Government
actually paid no bounty on export SUI
gar, such as would subject it to the
United States countervailing duty
1t Is gathered that the first complaints.
and the most formidable, too, against the
Russian sugar came from Germany and
been obliged to submit to the counter
vailing duty on sugar exported to the !
United States, under q decision ANNOUNCE
ed by Mr.. Olney when he was Attorney
General The German Government has
| never admitted the soundness of that
decision. contending all a4ong that 1t paid |
no bounty on German sugar within the
meaning of the United States law. But
falling to secure privileged rates for
their own sugars, the German and
French sugar interests saw to 1t that this
protest was lodged against the Russian
sugar. which, although not yet entering
the United States market in any great
amount. promised, under the peculiar
Russian system of encouragement to ex-
porters. to eventually drive out all other
beet sugars from competition for the !
| United States market Other interests |
| in the United States backed up the pro-
| tests against the Russian sugar, and to !
avoid international friction it was nee |
essary that these should be needed Mr. |
Kasson, the special plenipotentiary who !
| is in charge of the negotiation Of reci- |
| procity arrangements, after having ex- !
hausted his efforts to arrive at a COM !
| promise, was obliged to let the matter |
pass to the Treasury Department. Sec-
Rotary Gage, realizing the Importance OF |
the issue, refrained from acting upon 1t |
himself without advice, and submitted 1t I
to the Attorney General.
| Mr.. Griggs decided lat the Russian
Government practically paid bounty on
export sugar. That decision obliged Sec
rotary Gage to instruct the Treasury of
ficers to collect an additional duty on
Russian sugar amounting to the bounty,
which is calculated at little less than
cent per pound sH
The Russian method of aiding sugar
exports is unique. The Government by !
decree, fixes arbitrarily the amount of
Russian beet sugar that may be con- |,
sumed in Russia in any one year. All
produced above that amount must be
exported. Then an internal revenue tax
Is laid on every pound of sugar eonsum-
ed In Russia, and when sugar Is exported
the Russian exporter receives a rebate
of the full amount of the internal reve-
nue. tax. The Russian Government still
insists that this is not bounty. 1t has
given notice that IL the attempt Is made
by the United States to lay this counter |