Evening star., 1932-01-28
SUGAR TRADE QUIZ
IS EXPECTED SOON
Senator Copeland Hears
Tariff Commission Will
Hasten Its Inquiry.
BY WILLIAM LEE.

Senator Copeland Of New York has
announced that he has received as
surance from the Tariff Commission
that it will act with all possible haste
on his request for an investigation into
sugar production costs and Kindred
questions. At the same time he de-
clared that the American sugar indus
try faces ruin unless changes are made
in the sugar schedules within the next
few months.
Some time ago the New York Sen
ator advised the Tariff Commission
that a serious situation existed among
the sugar refiners of the United States
as a result of their inability to meet
competition from Cuban and other for
eign refinerS. This was caused, he said,
by the small differential in the tariff
rate on refined and raw sugar. The
1880 tariff act opened up the domestic
refined sugar market virtually on the
equivalent of free-trade basis.
Shipments to United States.
AS foreign reflners, especially those
in England, Germany and Czecho-
sloVakia, have been shipping refined
sugar to this country in ever increasing
quantities and selling on all sorts of
terms, a number of American refineries
have been compelled to curtal opera
tions and some have closed entirely.
Two large refinerieS in YOnkerS, N. Y,
have been closed for over a year and
one of them is in receiVership.
Senator Copeland recalled that dur
ang consideration of the tariff bill in
1880 he had argued for a greater Diff
ferent!al between the refined and raw
sugar rates. His fears, he declared, had
been justified, and although he was
expressing no opinion on the merit of
b sugar tariff, he was gravely concerned
bver the possibility of seeing employees
of the domestic refineries thrown out
of work
Leaders in the sugar industry point
out that until the enactment Of the 1880
tariff bill domestic cane and beet sugar
producers had enjoyed protection on re-
fined sugar from the time of the estab-
lishment of the republic. They de-
clare that imports of cuban refined
sugar in 1881 alone equaled more than
twice the production of Louisiana, or
more than the total production of Ohio,
Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa. Wisconsin,
South Dakota, Kansas, Idaho, Montana,
Washington and Utah, II out of the
16 beet sugar States. Imports of re-
fined sugar from the Philippines,
creased along with shipments from the
principal European sugar refineries.
Notwithstanding international agree
ments to restrict sugar production and
control marketing sugar stocks have &C
cumulated rapidly and prices are the
lowest on record.
Babst Statement.
Earl D. Babst, chairman Of the board
of the American Sugar Refining Co.,
recently made the statement that unless
some degree Of protection is afforded
by using the flexible tariff provisions
of the tariff act, there is a world
sugar situation and a world tariff Situ-
alton which is a real menace to the
pre- eminent sugar industry of the
United States and of Cuba, including
all elements, beet and cane producers
alike, and also the entire cane sugar
refining industry Of the country"
Great Britain and Canada both took
action over year ago to, protect their
sugar refiners and the foreign refined
sugar excluded by those countries has
swelled the flood Of imports here.
France in December declared an abso-
Lutte embargo on refined sugar imports.
Copyright, 1922