SUPPORT FOR PRESIDENT

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27564, 22 January 1955, Page 7

SUPPORT FOR PRESIDENT

Protectionism Attacked

(Rec. 11.30 p.m.) WASHINGTON, January 20. Four major oil companies today threw their support behind hew legislation in Congress to give President Eisenhower more power to lower United States tariffs on imports from friendly nations.

The President of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, Mr Munroe Rathbone, hit out at what he called the “Maginot Line philosophy’’ of extremist trade protectionists in a statement to the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives which is studying* the Trade Liberalisation Bill.

Protectionism, he said, would “wall America around with high tariffs and trade restrictions to the ultimate detriment of most of our citizens.’’ / The bill would extend the tariffcutting Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act, which expires next June, for three years, and permit the President over that time to cut tariffs on selected items by 15 per cent. He told the committee the bill held the prospect of making available to American consumers greater quantities and varieties of goods and raw materials, of enlarging foreign markets for American products, maintaining general prosperity, and enhancing national security. While imports sometimes impinged on certain domestic industries, he said, the general overall economic health of the country must be the over-riding consideration, and the bill would contribute to that.