Tobacco Documents Online

WINSTON-SALEM Journal Winston-Salem, N.C. Saturday, October I!, 1980 [~,'" By Parker Maddrey • . Jeurn~l F~rm Editor J~ohn $1ed~% president of the N.~tTI~T'~"B u rea u Federation, has told President Carter that legislation is not the way to stop a practice that allows im- ported tobacco to escape higher tariffs. Carter, in a campaign speech Thursday at the Dixie Classic Fair here, said, "I ~- tend to see the loophole that permits this unfair practice closed once and for all." To accomplish that, Carter said, he is directing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study the problem. He said that ff the study shows that ~lief cannot be provided under "existing suthority, he will ask Congress to enact legislation to provide it. Sledge, a leader in the three- year-old fight against allowing foreign tobacco to come into this country as "scrap," said • yesterday that he talked • briefly with Carter after the speech here Thursday. "I was able to tell him that we appreciated the comments, but legislation is not the answer," Sledge said. He ad- ded that he wishes he had had more time to talk with the president at~ut the situation. Sledge said that the problem arose when the U.S. Customs Ser~ce changed its rules in 1977 -- without public notice -- to allow quality leaf tobacco cut in strips to be imported a~ "~¢rap" tobacco, which has a tariff rate ~ only 16 c~nts a pound. "If they (customs) changed that without legislation, then they can change it without legislation right now," Sledge said in d telephone int.erview yesterday. It was not until I~78 that the amount of tobacco escaping the higher tariff could be determined, he said. The en- tire North Carolina congressional delegation has been fighting the practice since, he added. Customs officials ruled in May on a petitio~ that Sledge, as a Martin County tobacco farmer, filed last November requesting that the imported tobacco be properly clas~ed and t~xed aocurdlngly, The decision was to p]a~:e the partially processed leaf tobac- :co in an "other tobaccos" category that calls for a tariff of'17.1 cents a pound. Sledge said that Rpbert Strauss explained the pr.oblem • to the. president three weeks ago. Str~ass, Carter's campaign manager and former U.S. trade negotiator, had met a few days earlier with Sledge ~and other Farm Bure~.u' leaders in tobacco states to • discuss the problem. C~rtar. said in his ~here, "I am directing the i Department of Agriculture tu determine what the quality of this imported tobacco re~lly That tnean= the : d~i~i~nU~ "~-adi'ng ~erv~ee ,.will inspect imported tobacco for the first time, said John Duncan of the Agr~.cultural .Marketing Service:. in 'Washingt~m. Traditionally, the grading ~rvice inspects only .domestic tobacco. : _.. i "'While o~r grades are }{erent fr~m customs' classifications, we should able to tell what kind of to~. c4 'co and the quality it wo~ld be,",. ihe said. i Duncan said that the depart- :ment has been involved in the "problem for some time by" providing statistics and other information requested. this is. the first time we've ' • been asked to get actively :involved," he said, notlM that customs has jurisdiction over .. import d. uties. Sledge said that G. William • Miller, secretary of the • Treasury, has been aware of the problem for at least three • or four months, he added. Officials at customs, which ~comes under the Treasury Department, continue to insist :that their de~ision is right, Sledge said. Sledge is still 'waiting for customs to answer his appeal of the May decision. Whether Carter has asked or • would ask customs officials to reconsider the decision is not ":known. • In the meantime, Sledge said that he and other tobacco farm "leaders are considering f,-i~"n :~..~,'~,.';'': L ;"'. ~, ", .. ,, ~ ~%- ~,.- . ,,. ~" ~< . • ~.. - :...~. ,.., , JOHN He said that they ~Ik~ with agriculture and Inte~ational Trade Commission officials Washington "We're exploring possi- bilities that somethin¢ can ~ done under sections the ITC Act and the Agricultural Adjustmen[ Ac[ of ~e D30s, as amendS," he ~id. Another course would ~ to ~o into ~e couP, but would ~ a long, ex~nsive legal battle, Farm Bureau leaders have ~id. Legislation would be tbe ve~ last reso~, Sl~ge "We want to avoid that ~ute ~ all ~ssible." Only one ~bacco bill, which made a minor change. ~n intr~uced in Congress in the pas~ several years. Congressmen f~ tobacco s~U s {ear ~at ~y n~ tob~- ~ bill "#~M ~ ~l~erable ant~t~ ame~m~ TI54260011