Evening star., 1935-03-24

)UR EMBARGO ON ARGENTINA'S
FRESH MEAT is A SORE POINT.
Our tariff on linseed, or flaxSeed,
the oil from which Is used in all
paints, in the manufacture Of
linoleum and for many other every
day purposes, operates to our disad-
vantage in Argentina, with appar-
emily little corresponding advantage
at home.
The United States is the worlds
largest consumer Of linseed oil, yet
we grow only about 10 per cent of
what we need. Four -f1fths of the
worlds supply is grown on the Pampa.
In 1903 our tariff on raw linSeed
was IS cents a bushel. Under the
Hawley-Smoot tariff the import tax
was 65 cents bushel. And the do
mestic output OF linseed has not ma
terially increased.
This sky-high tariff on linseed,"
one Of the leading paint manufac-
turers told me the other day. has
not only failed to increase the pro-
duction of linseed in this country,
but it has destroyed another flourish
ing native industry. All through New
Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania, a
few years ago, you could find large
linseed oil factories and factories for
utilizing the various by-products
These are no more.
Buy From Competitors.
Instead of buying the raw product
from Argentina" he said, thereby
preserving home enterprise and at
the same time encouraging profitable
trade with rich neighbor, we now
buy linseed oil from Great Britain
and Holland. our competitors in the
Argentine markets. For some reason
the tariff on linseed oil Is only a
fraction Of what it is on the raw
product"
Such barriers and restrictions and
the accompanying retaliations, with
the consequent fall in our exports,
do not mean that products bearing
Yankee trademarks are no longer
found in Argentine shops and stores.
They are. but they are not imported
direct. When sales began to diminish
a few years ego. branch factories be-
gan to spring up along the Rio de la
Plata. A list of American branch
factories, assembling and distributing
plants in Argentina today resembles
IF tho tI,hnlo tfo ~ iv,or
industry Of the United States.
For instance. there are some 180
establishments turning out wheat and
corn products. 400 footwear factories
and more than 1000 industrial fur
niture establishments. The cigar and
cigarette industry employs 10000
workmen. the electrical materials and
radio industry 5000, while $4,000
men are employed in automobile fac
tories. In all there are 20,695 differ
ent plants operating in the republic
today. a great portion of them
branches of North American COM
panies.
On the other hand. and with just
as serious results to our export trade,
some industries have taken advantage
of the Roca- -Runciman trade agree
ment. by which Argentina gives pref
erence to products originating in
British territory. to establish branch
plants in Canada and England. Be-
cause of this we lose the taxes. in
surance premiums. wages to employees
and transportation revenues which
such factories now pay out abroad.
Because of our inability to purchase
nitrates and copper, there has been
a similar reaction in Chile. Next to
Argentina end Brazil. Chile was for
merly our most valuable market on
the continent. We once supplied prac-
tically all of her imports Of manu-.
features. But because of lack Of dol
lar exchange she has not only turned
elsewhere to swap nitrates for fin
| ished goodS-to France, Germany and
Japan-but has become thriving
manufacturing community on her
own account.
Laid to Republicans.
Now. then, disciples Of the New
Deal point out that the restrictions
and conditions which contributed to
bringing about this situation were the
work of Republican administrations
and that the present policy of recip-
rocal trade Is designed to correct It.
However 1t may be pointed out that
various of the present regimes do
mestic policies are also reacting to
the disadvantage OF our industrial
and agricultural exports.
rackVfrktnvN ~ Rntfnn nrndflr-
ton, the processing tax imposed upon
the manufacture of textiles, which
have resulted in higher prices OF raw
cotton and textiles, may be OF tenn
porary benefit to planters and manu-
facturers at home At the same time
they have not only made 1t difficult
and In some cases impossible to COM
pete in the textile markets OF South
America, but have brought about a
tremendous expansion in the produc-
ton of cotton in Brazil, Argentina,
Peru and Colombia.
In the last two years North Ameri-
can cotton goods have practically dis
appeared from the shelves OF Argen-
tine, Chilean, Peruvian and Brazilian
dry goods stores. The foreign mana
ger of one of the largest textile export
houses in the United States returned
from a survey Of the South American
markets a few days ago with the ver-
dict that our South American textile
business is a thing of the past.
Since the birth of the N. r. A. and
the A. A. A. Brazil alone has in
creased its cotton production more
than 5000 per cent. A recent trip
to the cotton country in the northern
states of that giant republic disclosed
to me that sections never before
known to produce the fluffy fiber now
resemble the cotton sections of Mis-
siSsippi and Texas. Even regions
which were formerly sugar cane and
cacao centers are now given over to
cotton.
More interesting still, the coffee
section of the south, even the State OF
Sac Paulo, has turned to cotton grow