Evening star., 1962-05-17
Lodge Backs
Kennedy Plan
To Cut Tariffs
BY DAVID S. BRODER
star staff Writer

Henry Cabot Lodge, the 1860
Republican vice presidential
nominee. today said Congress
could kill many great Com
munist hopes" by passing Presi-
dent Kennedy's trade program.
Mr.. Lodge joined four Ken
nedy Cabinet members, Secre-
tary Of State Rusk, Secretary
of Commerce Hodges, Secretary
of Agriculture Freeman and
Secretary of Labor Goldberg,
in plugging the trade bill at
a conference in the Sheraton
Park Hotel.
President Kennedy will speak
to the rally of trade bill sup
porters tonight.
The conference is a bipartisan
group Of about 100 business,
labor, farm and consumer or
ganizations having an interest
in foreign trade. About 1000
persons attended. The chair
man of the conference and pre-
siding officer of the meeting is
Charles P. Taft, former Mayor
of Cincinnati and a veteran
leader in the campaign for
liberalized trade and tariff
policies.
Mr.. Lodge said his talks with
Soviet Premier Khrushchev in
1859 left mo doubt that his
belief in the lack of unity in
the free world is fundamental
to his thinking"
The former Ambassador to
| the United Nations said the
kind of common action" called
for in the Presidents trade bill
would be death to many great
Communist hopes. No wonder
they resisted"
The Kennedy bill, now await
ing final action in the House
Ways and Means Committee,
is designed to expand free world
trade by reducing tariff bar
riers.
Mr.. Lodge said that, If Con-
gress fails to approve the Presi-
dents request, it would show
that the United States is not
ready to run even the minimum
risks which are an unavoidable
feature of this shrinking and
interdependent modern world"
Failure to enact this kind of
policy" he said, would cut us
off from our major allies, wor-
sen our balance of payments
position, injure the interests Of
millions Of Americans whose
Jobs depend on exports and i'm
ports, impair our living stand
ard and our ability to carry out
our many objectives at home
and abroad"
In the kickoff speech. Mr..
Rusk said passage Of the bill
would open the doors to Sub
stantially increased American
exports"
Pledges Hard Bargaining
He pledged that United
States negotiators, armed with
the authority the President
seeks to cut tariffs, would bar
gain hard for trade concessions
from other countries ION a
truly reciprocal basis"
"Our trade negotiators." the
Secretary said, will act under
a mandate to 'serve the ma
tional interest and protect the
economic strength Of the Ma
ton as a whole.
Mr.. Goldberg told the meet
ing that passage Of the trade
bill would create Several hum
dreds Of thousands Of jobs for
American workers"
The loss Of Jobs in industries
affected by rising imports. he
said. would not exceed 10000
in the first five years under
the. new act, and this blow
would be softened by trade
adjustment programs provid-
ing compensation and refrain
ing for workers made jobless
by the rise in imports.
Mr.. Hodges said expanded
exports-the goal Of the new
trade bill-are needed to reach
the mic targets the
administration has set for
America.
This is precisely what the
Trade Expansion Act is driving
at" he said. Though it can
not expand trade itself, 1t is
tailored to give United States
producers the widest opportu-
mites to do so. Its whole spirit
is one of commercial confidence
and conviction that Americans