Evening star., 1921-10-23

,ed" Substantially this has been the
language of the law ever since.
How "Foreign valuation" Works.
! For nearly eighty years the prac'
tice has been to apply valuation" on
the basis Of the invoice placed there
on by the foreign manufacturer, ex-
porter or the domestic importer. The
invoice must be certified TO by an
American consul Cor some consular Of
ficer), setting forth are articles and
foreign value thereof in the foreign
currency or currency of the country OF
origin. The collector 70 customs in the
! American port of entry is required TO
convert" this foreign invoice or or
schedule into American currency or
money. and this resulting sum is the
valuation" of the imported goods. un-
less the valuation for any reason Is
voluntarily raised by the importer, or
officially raised by the American ap-
a board of three appraisers. and in
certain cases to the United States
Court Of Customs Appeals in Wash
tngton.
The Fordney tariff bill. now before
the committee on finance in the SEN
Of valuation" of imported goods and
merchandise on the invoice of the ex-
porter-accepting the invoice Of the
lforeigner-and requires ad yalorem
duties to be imposed on the American
valuation OF similar or comparable
trative provisions Of the bill says that
value wherever used in this act
- shall mean the price on the
| date of expectation of the imported
merchandise at which comparable and
competitive products of the United
| offered for sale in the usual whole
sale quantities . to all pur-
| chasers in the ordinary course of
trade, including costs. etc, in the
principal markets of the United
/ States"
"American Valuation" Applied.
Further. the bill provides specific
methods Of determining value for
| sale." cost of production" "fair mar
ket value" etc. This Is the proposed
| American. valuation, system of ap-
plying ad valorem duties, which will
affect about one-half the dutiable i'm
I ports. and about one-half the customs
| receipts. 1t has aroused much discus
sion.
It is mistake to call this proposed
plan revolutionary" It was tried in
| the first tariff act and in the law of
1893. Several times after the system
Of foreign valuations" was estab-
lished finally in 1912. efforts were
a 1s4s agsia in vaHa 1sse
| 1851 and 1852, also in 1880 and In
1882. In 1880 "the foreign cost Of pro-
duction" was added as an aid to as
SCISSORS, but proved Of little value. In
1897 the wholesale price of foreign
| as an aid, with permission to figure
| back to guess" as to the real val
| ues. The same provisions were in the
tariffs of 1909 and 1918. But none
seemed to flll the bill and carry out
Of american valuation" was urged in
1909 and 1913. The only result was
the adoption of an alternative to for
eign value. taking the American sell
ing price Of the foreign article and
making deductions to bring it back to
| was found almost impossible to deter
| mine accurately the difference be.
| tween the cost Of production in
America and abroad" which: all agree
is 2 fair basis for tariff rate.
revenue. industry and employment
loomed large as the postwar finan-
cial and economic problems appear
ed. Trade disturbances, the economic
downfall of many European countries
and the declining rate Of exchange
| emphasized the need of adopting
some other method Of assessing ad
valorem duties on one-half of our
imports, out Of which we derive one
half Of our customs revenue. Radical
conditions seemed to require radical
remedies.
Importers and Home Manufacturers.
The two classes Of citizens most
vitality interested in this problem are
importers, on the one hand, and man
ufacturers. producers and growers
on the other. Naturally importers
(and foreign manufacturers and pro-
ducers) oppose the American vafua-
ton plan, because 1t may mean high
ef import duties. The American man