Iron County Record | 1953-05-07 | Page 8 | Reopening of Utah Mines Seen under Bill Provisions

Reopening of Utah Mines Seen Under Bill Provisions Possibility that approximately 1,000 Utahns will be reemployed in the lead-zinc industry was seen with the introduction by Representative Kir-hard M. Simpson (R.,Pa.) of a bill carrying a section designed to stabilize the domestic market in these two vital defense metals. According to Otto Ilerres, National Lead-Zinc Committee chairman, chair-man, who recently returned to Salt Lake City from Washington, the section of the bill affecting lead and zinc provides for a sliding scale of import taxes. "The proposed import taxes will prevent dumping of metals on the American market bv low-wage foreign countries," Mr. Ilerres said. "We will be free of the sudden price drops we have had in recent months which caused some of our Utah operations to shut down, Currently only four of the larger lead-zinc mining companies are operating in Utah. The rest were forced to shut down." The bill extends the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act for another jrar, Mr. Herres said, and will afford more adequate safeguards not only for the lead-zinc industry, but also for workers and producers of agricultural products, petroleum and coal. He pointed out that from the Utah point of view, all provisions of the Simpson Bill are important. "Maintenance of a sound and active lead-zinc industry in this country coun-try is vital to our national security," Mr. Herres said. "These metals are important to our defense effort, and we cannot risk defense failure by depending on foreign sources." "Here in Utah, we cannot maintain our high standard of living, when we have to compete with countries where low-wage scales are the rule," Mr. Herres added. He said the Simpson bill establishes an import tax whenever the domestic prices of lead and zinc fall below Ifj'ic a pound. Above that figure the tax is removed. This, he pointed out, is a fair price, since government ceiling prices were l!)c for lead I and Hl'-iiC for zinc at a time when operating costs were lower than I they are now. I