VII. APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE USED IN SURVEY Name of company Address of company. Suggested introduction The League of Women Voters is conducting a survey to determine what stake New Jersey industry has in international trade. Your company has been selected in a scientific sample designed for us by the American Institute of Public Opinion of Princeton, N. J., using the New Jersey Industrial Directory. No names of individuals or companies will be given in the report of the survey. All companies and individuals will remain anonymous. la. Is your company a subsidiary of another company? () Yes. ( ) No. 2. If yes to la, ask: b. What is name and location of your parent company? Does your company have any branches or subsidiaries outside the United () Yes, in which countries? ( ) No. 3. Does your company have any foreign investments? () Yes. ( ) No. 4a. Does your company export any products or materials directly and/or indirectly? (indirectly, that is, through sale of any of your products or materials to other domestic companies which in turn sell them to foreign markets.) () Yes. ( ) No. If yes to 4a, ask: b. Approximately what proportion of your total production, on the basis of sales, do these products or materials represent? Less than 3 percent (specify). 3 percent. 5 percent. {{م 10 percent. c. Approximately what proportion of your labor force is used in the production of these exports? Less than 3 percent (specify). 3 percent. 5 percent. 5a. Do you import any finished or semifinished use in the manufacture of your products? If yes to 5a, ask: parts or ingredients that you b. Could domestic substitutes be found for most of these semifinished and finished products, a few of them, or none of them? () Most. () Few. ( ) None. ( ) Don't know. d. If you could not get these imported products, how would this affect your business? 6a. What are the principal raw materials used by this company? b. Are any of these imported? () Yes, which ones? ( ) No. () Don't know. If yes to 6b, ask: c. Could domestic substitutes be found for most of these raw materials, a few of them or none of them? (__) Most. ( ) Few. ( ) None. () No opinion. e. If you could not get these imported products, how would this affect your business? 7a. Are there any foreign made products which are in competition with yours for the American market? () Yes. ( ) No. () Don't know. If answer to 7a is No, skip to question 12. b. Would you say that since the end of World War II, this competition has affected your business favorably, unfavorably, or has there been no change? Favorably. ) Favorably. ( ) Unfavorably. () No change. c. We'd be interested in knowing why you say that? 8a. If foreign competition should increase to a point where it seriously threatened your business, could your plant equipment be utilized for production of other products? 9. 10. 11. b. If your plant equipment could be utilized for production of other products, could you also continue to use the bulk of your labor force? ( ) Yes. ( ) No. () No opinion. If conversion became necessary, what types of assistance would your company require: tax relief, conversion loan, help in industrial diversification, or any other? ) Tax relief. ( ) Conversion loan. () Industrial diversification. Broader unemployment compensation. ( ) Labor retraining pro- gram. If conversion became necessary, would you prefer assistance from the Federal, State, or local government, local business commission, or from some other source? Federal Government. ( ) State government. ( ) Local govern) Local business commission. () Other. () None. ment. 12a. By and large, do you favor higher or lower tariffs than we have now? () Higher. () Lower. () No change. ( )No opinion. b. We'd be interested in knowing why you say that? The CHAIRMAN. Does that complete testimony from all of the witnesses from the League of Women Voters? Mrs. RUEBHAUSEN. Yes, it does. The CHAIRMAN. I want to thank each of you for your appearance and splendid statement, and compliment you on the splendid manner in which you have organized your testimony for this appearance. Also, I wish to express appreciation for the splendid contribution you made in examining this very important question that we have for consideration. Are there any questions? Mr. CURTIS. Mr. Chairman? The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Curtis, of Missouri, will inquire. Mr. CURTIS. I first want to compliment Mrs. Kennett, from my district in St. Louis, and say that the survey that the league conducted in St. Louis was objective, and the statistics that have been brought out in all of these papers are the kinds of things that are particularly valuable to this committee. I want to join with the chairman in his commendation of this group. One comment I would like to point up in Mrs. Ohlhaver's statement is that 85 percent of the people interviewed in Illinois believed that the interests of the United States would be best served by an increase in foreign trade. I am happy to know that figure is so large. I think on this committee it would be 100 percent. The issue, contrary to what a lot of people believe, is how we are going to do it rather than the objective. We are all interested in the objective, and the dispute is over the details. The statistics which you ladies have gathered through your fine organization are going to be extremely helpful in helping us draw conclusions correctly. Thank you. The CHAIRMAN. Are there any further questions? I also want to say that you have a very able representative here in Washington, and I refer, of course, to your Mrs. Douglas, who is very cooperative. We thank you ladies for your appearance and the very helpful information you have given the committee. Thank you very much. The next witness is Mr. Eugene Gregg. Mr. Gregg, will you please follow the usual custom and give your name, address, and the capacity in which you appear, for the record? STATEMENT OF EUGENE S. GREGG, VICE CHAIRMAN, UNITED STATES COUNCIL OF THE INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Mr. GREGG. In the first place, Mr. Chairman, I think I have inherited a difficult spot on the program, following as I do the interesting presentations of the representatives of the League of Women Voters. I hope what I have to say will not be too anticlimactic. My name is Eugene S. Gregg. I am a vice president of the United States Council of the International Chamber of Commerce, 103 Park Avenue, New York City. I am president of the Westrex Corp., 111 Eighth Avenue, New York City. I appear today on behalf of the United States Council to urge that the Congress enact H. R. 5550 which would authorize United States membership in the Organization for Trade Cooperation. We are satisfied that the enactment of this bill will be in the best interest of the United States. The United States Council is an organization of private business firms and associations. It represents the interests of the American business community in the International Chamber of Commerce. Through the international chamber, it is associated with similar groups in 35 countries. In a policy statement published in May 1955, the United States Council went on record as supporting United States participation in the proposed Organization for Trade Cooperation. The views of the United States Council on this subject today are as strong as they were last year. The purpose of my remarks is to amplify the reasons why the Organization for Trade Cooperation merits United States membership. The United States has a greater dollar and cents stake in freer and more orderly trade relations than any other country on earth. Our total merchandise exports and imports, excluding military shipments, are more than one-third greater than those of the United Kingdom, the next most important trading nation, and more than twice as large as those of the Federal Republic of Germany, at present the third most important trading country. Our exports alone, excluding military shipments, are greater than the combined exports of all the other countries of the Western Hemisphere. These facts suggest the magnitude of United States commercial interest in world trade. Even more important is our security interest. Not only does the United States depend on foreign sources for many strategic materials, but the whole free world coalition rests on a base of expanded trade and economic cooperation. As President Eisen hower has said, "It is essential for the security of the United States and the rest of the free world that the United States take the leader-. ship in promoting the achievement of those high levels of trade that will bring to all the economic strength upon which the freedom and security of all depend." That was from his message on foreign economic policy, on June 10, 1955. For the past 7 years, the United States has exercised this leadership in promoting freer and expanded world trade through its participation in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, GATT. The GATT is the most important agreement ever concluded for dealing with barriers to international trade. It provides for the reduction or binding of many thousands of tariff rates affecting well over half of the world's trade. Perhaps of even greater importance it lays down rules and principles affecting international trade to which 35 countries, accounting for close to 80 percent of world trade, have agreed to conform, and provides machinery for settling disputes, promoting commercial peace, and avoiding trade warfare. The proposed Organization for Trade Cooperation would administer the GATT. It would improve its present administration by providing for better machinery than exists. The functions now exercised by the GATT members in their periodic meetings would be transferred to this new Organization. The Organization would include an assembly, consisting of all countries party to the GATT, an executive committee of 17 countries of which the United States would be a permanent member, and a secretariat. Much needed continuity to the operation of the general agreement would be added by the establishment of the executive committee to which the Assembly could delegate authority to act on problems arising between Assembly sessions. Continuity and stability would be further enhanced by the creation of a permanent secretariat. The OTC would thus provide a permanent continuing structure for international trade cooperation. More than two-thirds of United States trade is conducted with the other 34 member countries of GATT. These countries are in varying stages of economic development and have a great diversity of problems and aspirations. The proposed organization would provide a more effective means of dealing with these countries on the many questions constantly arising in connection with the operation of the GATT. Even the present makeshift arrangements have proved useful to the United States in handling trade matters. This has been particularly true in regard to the removal of restrictions imposed on American exports by other countries for balance of payments reasons. GATT provides for periodic consultations on the part of members using such restrictions. These consultations have proved helpful in obtaining their removal. The South African Government, for example, attributed the relaxation of its balance of payments restrictions to the insistence of GATT members. The Belgian, Dutch, and the Western German Governments relaxed their restrictions as the aftermath of extensive GATT consultations. Today, balance of payments restrictions are at their lowest level in the postwar period. American exports, however, are still hampered by the remaining restrictions. The Organization for Trade Cooperation would put GATT consultation procedures for dealing with the restrictions that remain on a firmer basis. The periodic meetings of GATT have furnished an effective forum for the airing of complaints against national actions in conflict with the purposes of the agreement. Many disputes have never had to come before the GATT members, having been resolved simply by bilateral consultation. There have been many instances, however, in which bilateral discussions did not serve their purpose. In such cases the machinery of GATT was available. Although GATT's provisions cannot be enforced on any nation which is unwilling to abide by them, the parties to the agreement can recommend how a dispute should be settled and if their recommendation is not complied with they can authorize the aggrieved country to retaliate. The more usual course, however, has been to work out satisfactory solutions without recourse to formal action by the GATT body. Without the GATT machinery, disputes could easily develop into destructive trade warfare. The Organization for Trade Cooperation would provide a continuously operating body in which such disputes could be peacefully resolved, and more quickly resolved. The Organization for Trade Cooperation would not have authority, as I understand it, to impose any new obligations or increase the existing obligations of the United States. It would not, therefore, as has been implied, have any authority to determine the degree of tariff or other protection to be given American industry. The United States would have the same power of decision that it now has regarding tariff protection. Simply put, the functions of the OTC would be for the most part those which hitherto have been exercised by the GATT members at their annual meetings. These functions, however, would be put on a permanent and continuous basis. The United States has a tremendous stake in an orderly system of international trade. Support of the proposed Organization for Trade Cooperation is support for such a system. United States rejection of the OTC would have serious consequences. On this point, I can do no better than to quote what President Eisenhower has said in his April 14, 1955, message: Failure to assume membership in the Organization for Trade Cooperation would be interpreted throughout the free world as a lack of genuine interest on the part of this country in the efforts to expand trade. It would constitute a serious setback to the momentum which has been generated toward that objective. It would strike a severe blow at the development of cooperative arrangements in defense of the free world. It could lead to the imposition of new trade restrictions on the part of other countries, which would result in a contraction of world trade and constitute a sharp setback to United States exports. It could result in regional realinements of nations. Such developments, needless to say, would play directly into the hand of the Communists. I The need for the Organization for Trade Cooperation is clear. feel sure that when the Congress has weighed the question fully and carefully, membership in the proposed Organization will receive strong endorsement. The CHAIRMAN. Does that complete your statement? Mr. GREGG. That completes my statement, sir. The CHAIRMAN. We thank you for your appearance and the information given the committee. |