State of the Union AddressesTaft, William H. (William Howard)
History
State of the Union Addresses
Taft, William H. (William Howard)
Presidents -- United States -- Messages; United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
The report shows that the duties on wools, wool wastes, and shoddy, which
are adjusted to the rate Of 33 cents on scoured wool are prohibitory in the
same measure that the duty on scoured wool is prohibitory. In general, they
are assessed at rates as high as, or higher than, the duties paid on the
clean content of wools actually imported. They should be reduced and so
adjusted to the rate on wool as to bear their proper proportion to the real
rate levied on the actual wool imports.
The duties on many classes of wool manufacture are prohibitory and greatly
in excess of the difference in cost of production here and abroad.
This is true of tops, of yarns (with the exception of worsted yarns of a
very high grade), and of low and medium grade cloth of heavy weight.
On tops up to 52 cents a pound in value, and on yarns of 65 cents in value,
the rate is 100 per cent with correspondingly higher rates for lower
values. On cheap and medium grade cloths, the existing rates frequently run
to 150 per cent and on some cheap goods to over 200 per cent. This is
largely due to that part of the duty which is levied ostensibly to
compensate the manufacturer for the enhanced cost of his raw material due
to the duty on wool. As a matter of fact, this compensatory duty, for
numerous classes of goods, is much in excess of the amount needed for
strict compensation.
On the other hand, the findings show that the duties which run to such high
ad valorem equivalents are prohibitory, since the goods are not imported,
but that the prices of domestic fabrics are not raised by the full amount
of duty. On a set of 1-yard samples of 16 English fabrics, which are
completely excluded by the present tariff rates, it was found that the
total foreign value was $41.84; the duties which would have been assessed
had these fabrics been imported, $76.90; the foreign value plus the amount
of the duty, $118.74; or a nominal duty of 183 per cent. In fact, however,
practically identical fabrics of domestic make sold at the same time at
$69.75, showing an enhanced price over the foreign market value of but 67
per cent.
Although these duties do not increase prices of domestic goods by anything
like their full amount, it is none the less true that such prohibitive
duties eliminate the possibility of foreign competition, even in time of
scarcity; that they form a temptation to monopoly and conspiracies to
control domestic prices; that they are much in excess of the difference in
cost of production here and abroad, and that they should be reduced to a
point which accords with this principle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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