proceedings under sections 336, 337, and 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, wherein he or any member of his family has any special, direct, and pecuniary interest, or in which he has acted as attorney or special representative. JUSTIFICATION OF ESTIMATE Mr. STEVENS. Mr. Chairman, I offer for the record the following justification for our estimate: Hon. CLIFTON A. WOODRUM, DECEMBER 1, 1941. Chairman, Subcommittee on Independent Offices Appropriations, MY DEAR MR. WOODRUM: This Commission is pleased to furnish your committee with the statement recently requested by you setting forth the financial requirements of the Tariff Commission for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1943. The following statement compares the financial requirements of 1942 and 1943. The figures do not reflect the reimbursements received for services rendered to other Government agencies. They are shown in the estimates. The $900,000 approved by the Budget Bureau for 1943 is $5,000 less than the sum appropriated for the current year. Direct appropriations to the Tariff Commission have gradually decreased since 1936. Because of this decrease, the Commission has not recently been able to maintain a staff of the size necessary to meet all demands on its services, demands which have been increased by the defense program and which will be increased still further by foreign-trade problems which are being created by the war and which will inevitably arise when the war is over. The table which follows shows that the Tariff Commission has been able to maintain its staff at the 1936 level-a level which at present is inadequate-only because its direct appropriations have been supplemented by substantial reimbursements received from other Government departments. Had this not been the case, reductions in the staff would have been necessary. As it was, the work was accomplished only by a considerable amount of overtime. The Commission is strongly of the opinion that it should not have to depend upon such unforeseeable arrangements to keep its staff intact. The Tariff Commission's financial situation in each year, 1936 to 1942, inclusive, is given in the following summary The Tariff Commission was created to serve the Congress and the Executive by supplying information on tariff and other problems relating to international trade and international trade policies. During the past year, the foreign-trade problems facing the United States have arisen chiefly from war conditions and from the necessities of national defense. In this situation, the Commission-as would be expected-has changed the emphasis of its work. The demands of the defense agencies on the facilities of the Commission and work on special trade problems arising in a war economy have at times overtaxed its staff and have resulted in a greater volume of work in the past year than at any period in its history. The demands of the defense agencies are continuous and increasing at the present time. The Commission's work in recent months in connection with national defense has been superimposed upon the work required under its regular functions. The Commission has been called upon to assist in the defense program because of the nature of its functions and of the experience gained in their exercise. In the past year, as in all other years since the Commission was organized, its primary duty has been to supply factual information. It has continued to gather, analyze, and organize data on foreign trade and foreign-trade policies, on technical tariff and other questions relating to imports, on domestic industry and its competition from imports, and on costs of production. Such information is essential now when the emphasis is on national defense and the best means of insuring an adequate supply, whether by importation or domestic production, of strategic, eritical, and essential materials. The Commission has been able, and will continue to be able, to meet new demands made upon it as they arise only through maintenance of a reservoir of information and by being organized and staffed for the rapid collection of any new data which may be required. It is apparent that as long as the present emergency exists, the Commission's work must be centered largely on defense problems. This activity will, in the main, take the form of assistance to defense agencies, under the provisions of section 334 of the Tariff Act of 1930, and various Executive orders which direct the Tariff Commission to cooperate with other Government agencies. The Commission's work on national-defense problems varies widely, but consists principally of technical and economic research, frequently including field work and the preparation of written reports; consultation with and expert advice to defense agencies, either by telephone, personal interview, or formal conference; cost-of-production and sales investigation, usually necessitating special field inquiries; statistical compilations and analyses; and the service of its personnel on interdepartmental committees. Because of the type of information Supplied and the purpose for which it is intended, the work done by the Commission on defense matters is as a rule confidential, and, therefore, no detailed account of it can be given. Although assistance has been given to all the defense agencies, especially heavy have been the demands of the Office of Price Administration, the Office of Production Management, the Economic Defense Board, and in connection with lend-ase operations. One reason the Commission has been drawn upon so extensively for assistance in the present emergency is that it has gathered, over a long period of research and investigation, a fund of information on commodities, domestic industries, and international trade. An even more important reason, however, is that the Commission has a trained and experienced staff capable of gathering and analyzing and interpreting such information in its bearing on the many special problems which arise in the national emergency. Not only have the emergency officials used existing agencies as sources of information but they have drawn an important portion of their personnel from these agencies. The Tariff Commission has supplied its share of their personnel. These transfers have created a serious situation for the Commission inasmuch as it must undertake to replace personnel in the present depleted market. The situation is especially serious inasmuch as the Commission is able to render its most effective assistance in the defense program only when its staff is kept intact and is employed as an operating unit. Besides activities in behalf of defense preparations, the Commission has continued its assistance to the Department of State in the work on the tradeagreements program and its work for the Committee for Reciprocity Information. In the past year a supplementary trade agreement was concluded with Canada, and a new agreement was negotiated with Argentina. Work on these agreements, however, represents only a small part of the total work on trade agreements. United States trade with practically all of the non-Axis countries has been reviewed in order to obtain the basic data for discussions of possible new trade agreements or revisions of those already negotiated. In fact, the Commission's activities on trade agreements, especially during the latter half of the year, were even greater than usual. The data obtained by the Tariff Commission on various commodities must be kept current if the information supplied to defense agencies and to the tradeagreements organization is to be of the greatest value. For that reason, much field work has been carried on in recent months; some of it has been done at the request of the defense agencies themselves, but much of it upon the Commission's own initiative in order to maintain its standard of service. The information obtained in the field has been made available to the defense agencies, either in the form of special reports and memoranda or in the form of summaries of tariff information, which are constantly being revised and brought up to date. The Commission completed and issued during the past year its report on the Foreign Trade of Latin America and a report on Latin America as a Source of Strategic and Other Essential Materials. Shortly after issuance in July of the exchange-control regulations affecting Japan, the Commission issued a report on United States Imports From Japan and Their Relation to the Defense Program and to the Economy of the Country. Other reports include one of the Possibilities of Producing Rubber in the United States and Rubber Conservation, as well as one on Earthen Floor and Wall Tiles and one on Hogs and Hog Products. Approaching completion is a report on German Trade and Trade Policies. There are pending before the Commission two investigations requested by the Senate. One of these, concerned with wood pulp and pulpwood, was initiated in August 1939, but was later suspended because of the changes which took place in the trade soon after the war began. The investigation will be reopened whenever circumstances appear to warrant. Another investigation requested by the Senate concerns red-cedar shingles. This investigation is rapidly nearing completion. Besides the investigations requested by the Senate, the Commission has undertaken an investigation of the Puerto Rican needlework industry at the request of the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor (this investigation was later discontinued); an investigation of wheat under section 22 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, as amended, this investigation resulting in a Presidential proclamation placing an annual quota of 800,000 bushels on imports of wheat and a quota of 4,000,000 pounds on flour; and a supplemental investigation of cotton under section 22, resulting in the President's exempting from quota restrictions imports of cotton having a staple 111/16 inches or longer. Another supplemental investigation was instituted by the Commission on November 12, 1941, to determine whether import restrictions may be suspended on certain cotton and cotton-waste items. A public hearing will be held on December 10. Under the so-called flexible provision (section 336) of the Tariff Act of 1930, an investigation on crab meat was instituted and completed during the year. As a result of this investigation, the duty on crab meat was increased by Presidential proclamation. The Commission will continue to keep up to date the basic information on which it must draw in any work it may be called upon to do. Far-reaching changes in world trade will inevitably follow the end of the present hostilities. That there will be a difficult transition period is certain. This period may be marked by an intensified struggle for world markets in which many nations will participate, using both the old and new methods of trade control. On the other hand, the end of the war may bring sooner or later greater freedom of trade based on broader international collaboration. Whatever may be the. ature of future trade developments, the Commission is mindful of the important role that the United States must assume, and will endeavor to accumu-" iate, correlate, and make available to the President and to the Congress factual data upon which a constructive program may be based. FUNCTION, AND ACTIVITIES Under existing law the Tariff Commission performs several distinct duties. They may be grouped into the five following classes: 1. General Powers.-The original and basic work of the Tariff Commission in investigating and advising upon economic problems in the field of foreign trade. This includes at present (a) The systematic procurement, analysis, and presentation of information on questions of tariff policy and on imports and their competition with domestic industry; (b) Work done at the direct request of Congress or the President or of administrative agencies on numerous special subjects; (e) Assistance rendered in connection with the defense program, especially with reference to import requirements, increase of domestic production, and control of prices; (d) Assistance rendered in connection with the trade agreements program;; (c) Protective activities for agricultural products provided for in the Agri-, cultural Adjustment Act and the Soil Conservation Act; (f) Other miscellaneous work for which it is especially adapted. 2. Cooperative service.—Rendering special and expert service in economic matters to other Government establishments, in addition to that mentioned above. 3. Foreign discriminations.—Observing and reporting on discriminations against the foreign trade of the United States. 4. Unfair practices.—Investigating and recommending corrective action on unfair practices in the import trade. 5. Rate adjustments.—Investigating and specifying changes in tariff rates under section 336-the so-called "flexible clause." To these may be added other duties prescribed by law or Executive order. (a) Cooperation with other American republics: Active collaboration with the Department of State in carrying out the provisions of Public, No. 63, Seventy-sixth Congress, for the sending of Government experts to other American republics for direct assistance and for other measures to improve the relations between those countries and the United States. Under the provisions of the Second Deficiency Act of 1940, the Tariff Commission, during the fiscal year 1941, undertook the training of three student observers, one each from Argentina, Mexico, and Venezuela. The Commission also translated into Spanish and published part I of its report on The Foreign Trade of Latin America for distribution to all of the American republics. (b) The President has designated the chairman of the Commission as a member of the Price Administration Committee of Office of Price Administration. (c) At the request of the President, the chairman was designated to represent the Commission on the recently created Economic Defense Board. GENERAL POWERS By reason of constant preparation, the Commission is able not only to issue reports, surveys, and other material but also to answer the ordinary calls of Congress and the Executive branch definitely and promptly. The Budget Bureau has already been advised of the preparation of the summaries of tariff information. This work has been continued during the past year. These summaries have been, as far as we know, the most valuable source 66358-41-15 of information to defense agencies with respect to individual commodities; the demand for them has been very heavy, and over 200 of these individual studies have been supplied to defense agencies. Formerly it was not customary for the Commission to make any general distribution of these summaries but they have proven so useful to the defense agencies that the practice with respect to their distribution has had to be revised in order that they might be put to best service in the present emergency. With the changing economic conditions brought about by the war, the continued revision of these summaries becomes more important than at any time in the past several years. In addition to the distribution of these summaries, the Commission has completed certain major reports and surveys during the year, as follows: Hogs and Hog Products. Second Series No. 143. Starches and Dextrines and Related Products. Second Series No. 138. Earthen Floor and Wall Tiles. Second Series No. 141. Twenty-fourth Annual Report of the Tariff Commission. War and Its Effect on United States Imports, Volumes 1 and 2. Crude Rubber. Red Cedar Shingles, report on production and imports. Synthetic Organic Chemicals, United States Production and Sales, 1940. Wheat and Wheat Flour Quotas. (Sec. 22, A. A. A.) Current Imports for Consumption of Strategic and Critical Materials. Miscellaneous Crude Drugs, Analysis of Imports through New York in 1939. Changes in Import Duties since the Passage of the Tariff Act of 1930 (Supple ment). Foreign Trade of Latin America: Part I. Trade of Latin America with the World and with the United States (also Spanish translation). Part II. Commercial Policies and Trade Relations of Individua! Latin-American Countries. Section 1. Argentina Section 2. Bolivia Section 3. Brazil Section 10. Venezuela Section 11. Costa Rica Section 19. Dominican Republic Part III. Selected Latin-American export commodities, Volumes 1 and 2. Supplement. A summary of selected data relating to the trade statistics of the 20 Latin-American countries. Reference Manual of Latin-American Commercial Treaties (also Spanish translation). Graphic Analysis of the Trade of Latin America. In addition the Commission, at the request of Congressional committees, has made the following special typewritten reports: Senate and House bills and resolutions referred to the Tariff Commission for examination, comment, and recommendation, July 1, 1940, to June 30, 1941 |