Show wool duty drop rapped by moss the tha Trea treasury fury depart ments insistence on removing the countervailing duty on imports of wool top from uruguay la in an unjustified sacrifice of american jobs sena tor frank E ted oss moss charged today with wool prices at a 17 year low with lamb prices depressed as a result and with unemployment high it Is hard to imagine a worse a time for such a move the senator said it simply means more wool processed by workers will come into america senator moss note that in 1952 1052 imports of wool top reached 17 million pounds after imposition of the duty they dropped to nothing in 1953 VY dy 1037 the imports were up to pounds about one third of oil all U US S imports of the item in a letter to assistant sec detary of the treasury A gilmore flues the utah democrat challenged validity of the benchmark the standa standard td the treasury yes in determining the exiA existence tence of a subsidy ny by law tile the treasury department part ment must levy a countervailing compensating duty on imported articles on which the exporting county pays a subsidy uruguay gusy uses a corn com plex system of variable exchange rates the amount in dollars that a number of pesos apesos exchange for I 1 the rates are arranged so that wool tot top a partially al ay finished article Is favored over raw wool the controversy between the treasury on the one hand and the wool industry and some borne senators natora pe on the other turns on the question of whether this favorable rate constitutes a subsidy in recent hearings before the senate committee on finance assistant secretary flues explained the treasury benchmark a weight ed average of all exchange rates which the department part ment uses to determine Vy whether bether the exchange advantage allowed wool top is or Is not a subsidy in 1053 1953 the benchmark indicated it was now it indicates it la Is not and the department is removing the subsidy |