CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -- SENATE

April 5, 1967

Page 8350

ORDERLY MARKETING ACT OF 1967

Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, on behalf of myself and Senators BARTLETT, BAYH, COTTON, EASTLAND, ERVIN, DODD, GRUENING, INOUYE, KENNEDY of Massachusetts, LONG of Missouri, MCGEE, MCINTYRE, MORSE, MOSS, NELSON, PELL, SCOTT, TALMADGE, THURMOND, and TOWER, I introduce, for appropriate reference, a bill to provide for the orderly marketing of articles imported into the United States, to establish a flexible basis for the adjustment by the U.S. economy to expanded trade, and to afford foreign supplying nations a fair share in the growth and change in the U.S. market.

Mr. President, the proposed Orderly Marketing Act of 1967 is identical to S. 2022 of the 89th Congress. It is not a rigid Protectionist measure, nor would it impose an inflexible quota system. Instead, it is designed to give those American industries which have been hard hit by a massive flood of low-cost foreign imports time to readjust to changing conditions of world trade.

In a number of industries, notably the textile, shoe, and wood products industries, the complex problems of high labor input, narrow profit margins, and limited capital resources have helped low wage foreign competition to gain major inroads on the domestic market.

This situation has threatened the existence of these domestic manufacturers, particularly the smaller ones, and their workers. High tariffs do not offer meaningful or desirable relief for them. Rigid quota systems would undermine our efforts to increase the general level of international trade.

We recognize the need for expanded world trade. But we do not think it makes sense for our workers or industrialists or, in the long run, for industrialists and workers in other countries to depend on erratic, unstable trade developments as a vehicle for economic growth. In our domestic markets we use a number of devices, including minimum wage-and-hour laws, for example, to insure fair competition. We cannot apply similar requirements on foreign countries.

The orderly market concept allows us to bring balance to our trade policy. Very simply, this bill would require, under certain specific conditions, the Secretary of Commerce to determine whether increased quantities of imports are a factor contributing to a condition of economic impairment of a domestic industry. If the Secretary finds that such impairment does exist, then the President would be able to impose import limitations geared to total sales in the domestic market, subject to review after 3 years. This concept would allow us to overcome unfair competition, through international agreements or through unilateral-but flexible-quotas. And it would allow foreign competitors to share in the growth of our economy. It is, in my opinion, a reasonable approach to a difficult and thorny problem.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill, and a section-by-section analysis of it be reprinted in the RECORD at this point.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill will be received and appropriately referred; and, without objection, the bill and section-by-section analysis will be printed in the RECORD.

The bill (S. 1446) to provide for the orderly marketing of articles imported into the United States, to establish a flexible basis for the adjustment by the U.S. economy to expanded trade, and to afford foreign supplying nations a fair share of the growth or change in the U.S. market, introduced by Mr. MUSKIE (for himself and other Senators), was received, read twice by its title, referred to the Committee on Finance, and ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

[TEXT OF BILL OMITTED]