The Washington herald., 1921-02-21
WANTS TARIFF
BASED ON COST
OF PRODUCTION
Fordney Urges Duty Rste
To Prevent Low Wage
Competition.
A radical departure involving tn.

A radical departure involving the
Ievying of different rates Of duty
on imports from countries with
varying costs OF production may be
tried out by the House Ways and
Means Committee in drafting the
new tariff law.
Representative Fordney. Of Michi-
gan. chairman OF the committee. has
become convinced that some sort Of
a scheme of this nature is desirable
IL Il can be shown TO be feasible.
constitutional and not in violation
Of favored nations clauses OF com
mercial treaties.
II do not want 10 discriminate
against Canada. which Is our hest
customer" said Representstiv.
Fordney in explaining the purpos"
he has In mind IF we make rates
Of duty which are hfrh enough 10
protect our industries against Japa-
nese competition and against Ger
man competition they may prove
prohibitive when arplied to Cana
dian imports. II IL is possible to
have one set Of rates Of duty 10 b.
applied against imports from coun-
tries where the cost of production
from countries where costs arc not
so much less than in the United
States / believe IL should be done"
The general scheme in Fordney
mind is to provide maximum and
minimum duties and TO arouse IN"
proper official to apply one or the
other in accordance as 10 whether
costs of production in the foreign
Testimony Given.
Testimony before the Ways and
Means Committee. which concluded
hearings during the past week. has
been to the effect that labor costs
are so low in Japan that rates Of
duty. much higher than thos. In
the former Payne-Aldrich act viii
be necessary TO provide adequate
protection. with respect to Ger
many she testimony has been that
the present exchange conditions
place costs in that country in rela-
lively about the same position as In
Japan. Rates of duty double thOse
ir the Payne-Aldrich law have been
asked by many manufacturers who
fear German competition. ON the
other hand. il has been stated that
2
law would. in many cases. prove
ample TO protect against Csnadisr
competition. What Chairman Ford
ney wants to do is to work OUT ssn"
kind of scheme which viii provid.
degree Of protection which VIII
place each foreign country on about
a competitive basis when the dIi-
ferent costs are considered.
The most elaborate scheme fur
nishcd to the WAYS and Means Com
mittee along this line is the wor-
of Judge Marion De Nries, ~ a..
United States Court OF Customs Az
peals Representative Fordnsy ls
impressed greatly with Judge To-
Nries' scheme. and has asked Other
members Of the Ways and M-aus
Committee TO give IL clos" st.a'
before rejecting IL.
The De Nrics plan provide q.
the imposition OF additional AMI
counterVailinG duties to cguslIz
the net differences in the cost o.
production ia this country ag.
abroad. IL Is provided that -.
President, semi-annually. shall as-
certain the average cost o. Vrut8.-
tion. duty paid, on the seversI r'a~s-
es or articles OF merchand .~s CA
ported to this country from any
foreign country. colony or depend
ency. th2 average cost 90 proGucli0u
in this country OF any such ar'.-
Cles or OF merchandise comparable
or competing in trade th'-eW tn. tn.
net difference between the foreign
and domestic cost Of prodUctiun. and
the additional duty Necessary 20 d.
added TO that provided by law IN
order to make uniform the fleets
OF the Law upon foreign nations.
whenever these facts a. ascer-
iained by the President show The
cost Of production IN any t"r-I-a
country to be less than n" 'os'
in this country. the Presidar' shall
so proclaim Il. setting forth IN N"
proclamation such ascerfarrs1 ".f
difference and the necessarv add
tional duty.