user: Input: ‘Boston Strong Concert’
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What was this article about?
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It's about: A benefit concert Thursday for victims of the deadly Boston Marathon bombing featured performances by Aerosmith, the Dropkick Murphys, Boston, New Kids on the Block, and James Taylor and Carole King. Concert proceeds from the sold-out, 5½-hour concert will go to One Fund Boston, the compensation fund established by Massachusetts Gov. Deval L. Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to help bombing victims.


Input: Washington Watch - Customs Study Seen as Hint - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON INITIATORS of the study disavow any connection, but the recently undertaken inquiry into import entry procedures is interpreted as another form of subtle pressure being placed on Japan to agree to voluntary export restraints on car shipments to the United States.

At the suggestion of United States Trade Representative Bill Brock, the Government's commercial representatives abroad have been asked to find out how long cars sit on the docks before clearing customs after being unloaded.

The suspicion is that in many European countries and Japan it takes a lot longer than the five to 10 days that is the normal entry time in this country. Delays in clearance amount to an invisible barrier against American exports.

Mr. Brock ''seeks to determine what nontariff barriers are imposed by other countries and to ask for their removal,'' said his spokesman, David F. Demarest. The Government has never yet taken an inventory of the entry situation abroad.

The threat of Congressionally mandated quotas on Japanese cars is one form of pressure on Japan, which has shown, according to the reports from an American briefing team in Tokyo, notable reluctance to curb its shipments unless the United States formally requests this.

But to keep the colors of free trade flying, President Reagan has declined to negotiate any numbers and has authorized his representatives merely to ''welcome'' any restraints the Japanese may volunteer in the interests of good bilateral relations.

But the Japanese are not convinced that Congress will act and are heartened by the Administration's expressed opposition to quotas, suggesting that even if Congress should enact quota legislation, the President would veto it.

The issue of customs clearance adds a new element. For despite Administration denials that any American procedural slowdown is contemplated, this of course remains the ultimate weapon of the United States to gain faster entry for its products in Japan and elsewhere.

Commented one American analyst, ''The vision of cars backed up to Yokohama has to be something to give the Japanese pause in the current deliberations - especially with their sensitivity to every antenna in Washington.''

As part of what has been over recent years increasingly rapid clearance on American docks, Customs agents rely for the most part on statements and documents of the manufacturers that the cars have their catalytic converters and meet other American requirements.

Occasionally a car may be dismantled, but this is more to check for drugs than converters. Sprinkel's Complaint

''It's confusion and disturbing to markets,'' said former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Arthur F. Burns. Added David Jones, economist at the government bond house of Aubrey, Lanston & Company, ''We haven't seen this type of explicit public intervention by the Treasury in day-to-day operations of the Fed since the days of Harry Truman.''

They were referring to the criticism of Fed operations voiced last Wednesday before a Congressional panel by Beryl W. Sprinkel, Treasury Under Secretary for monetary affairs, who wants the Fed to disregard interest rates and concentrate on controlling short-term monetary growth.

Dr. Burns observed in an interview: ''I think public criticism of the Federal Reserve by officers of the Administration is counterproductive. What differences exist, and some differences are bound to arise, can in my judgement, and should, be handled privately.''

That was also the thrust of remarks that the chairman of the Fed, Paul A. Volcker, made at a recent breakfast with Treasury Secretary Donald T. Regan.

Not only are there fears that the Fed's independence is being challenged. But the intervention has caused greater uncertainty over the course of short-term interest rates. The higher risks, dealers have said, have added to costs and may have contributed to last Friday's increase in the prime rate.

Mr. Sprinkel may have his differences with the Federal Reserve Board, but he and Norman Ture, Under Secretary of the Treasury for tax policy, apparently are determined to show that at least they see eye-to-eye, to counter some press reports to the contrary.

At least that was the world out of the Treasury last week when Mr. Sprinkel and Mr. Ture scheduled a joint press conference for this Thursday. Weeding Out Waste

A fresh effort is under way to reduce waste and fraud in the Federal bureaucracy, and the man in charge is the new deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, Edwin L. Harper, a former management consultant and most recently a vice president at the Emerson Electric Company in St. Louis.

Mr. Harper, who has additional White House responsibilities as an assistant to the President, is the chairman of a commission of the inspectors general, the chief auditors and investigators in the major departments and agencies.

One of the main functions of the commission, he said, will be to share some of the newest auditing techniques to identify areas of potential trouble and to trim what was a $4 billion loss to the Government last year. Selling the Program

The Economic Recovery Program, which met some Congressional setbacks last week, may get a lift Wednesday, when President Reagan's advisers hope he will be well enough to make a major economic address.

The President is expected to hang tough for three-year general tax cuts, arguing that the predictability of greater after-tax income is the only way to get more savings and investment and to induce workers to moderation in pay demands.

Reagan aides are hoping that the President's popularity will override the recent Congressional challenges to both the tax and spending cuts. There will likely be a major campaign by business to support the President.

Treasury Secretary Regan is still talking of a second tax cut later, intended to pick up specific loose ends. One idea gathering support is to offer tax credits for research and development, which, according to David B. Bostian Jr., a Wall Street economic analyst, would help recreate the pro-investment conditions of the 1960's. Supply Side Gain

When Congress sought to lower the maximum tax rate on capital gains from 49 percent to 28 percent in 1978, the Carter Administration was vigorously opposed. Treasury Secretary W. Michael Blumenthal said then that it would ''bust the budget'' by causing a $1.7 billion revenue loss in 1979.

It now turns out that the net loss was $100 million, and there is mounting evidence that the Treasury may have made money from the 1978 tax reduction in 1980. Briefcases

* Donald V. Earnshaw, executive vice president of the Continental Can Company, has just joined the Administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary for export development at the Commerce Department.

* Car-for-Ship Swap: The Commerce Department's International Trade Administration will take over responsibility for auto industry problems from the Transportation Department. The Maritime Administration at Commerce is expected to be transferred to Transportation.
What was this article about?
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It's about:

assistant: WASHINGTON INITIATORS of the study disavow any connection, but the recently undertaken inquiry into import entry procedures is interpreted as another form of subtle pressure being placed on Japan to agree to voluntary export restraints on car shipments to the United States.   At the suggestion of United States Trade Representative Bill Brock, the Government's commercial representatives abroad have been asked to find out how long cars sit on the docks before clearing customs after being unloaded.   The suspicion is that in many European countries and Japan it takes a lot longer than the five to 10 days that is the normal entry time in this country. Delays in clearance amount to an invisible barrier against American exports.