CPI Strong for ASP
Chemical & Engineering News · 1970
Toughened by experience with two 10% Kennedy round tariff cuts, chemical industry veterans of a skirmish with the Johnson Administration two years ago manned the parapets last week to once again defend the American Selling Price (ASP) system of customs valuation. The Nixon Administration wants ASP repealed. Industry and labor witnesses, with the exception of the American Importers Association, testifying at House Ways and Means Committee hearings want ASP kept intact. Thomas P. Turchan, president of the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA), said that after only two of five scheduled 10% Kennedy round tariff cuts, benzenoid chemical imports have already risen 50% in only two years. Robert C. Barnard, counsel for SOCMA and the Dry Color Manufacturers Association, spelled out some details. Dye imports have increased 60% in the past two years, dye exports have decreased, and the U.S. trade deficit in dyes has more than tripled to $41 million. The U.S. share of ...