THE CHEMICAL WORLD THIS WEEK
willing to accept lower profits resulting from social costs? "You can't do business in an unfriendly world . . . social objectives we have, have not been challenged by our stockholders" (Connor). • DDT. Has industry worked up a replacement for DDT? "No" (Siverd). • Prices. Are they really firming up? "Indices in general show prices are better than six months ago . . . but not enough better to be reflected in increased profits" (Du Font's McCoy). • ASP and trade. "Free trade as a philosophy is dead all over the world except in the U.S. . . . It's dead in the EEC . . . in Japan . . . . Yet there is a strong body of opinion in the U.S. trying to keep it alive on a unilateral basis . . . and Congress realizes this. . . . Our increased exports [resulting from Kennedy round agreements] are more than offset by increased nontariff barriers . . . whereas our foreign competitors have benefited" (Connor). • The economy. Will it pick up in the third quarter? "We see no signs of it. The economy is sluggish" (Monsanto's Bock). "If anything, it has become more sluggish in the past few weeks" (Connor). • International competitiveness. "We won't be able to afford the luxury of fighting with one hand behind our back" (McCoy). • Fibers. Any improvement? "Not noticeable" (McCoy).
TRADE:
CPI Strong for ASP Toughened by experience with two 10% Kennedy round tariff cuts, chemical industry veterans of a skirmish with the Johnson Administration two years ago manned the parapets last week to once again defend the American Selling Price (ASP) system of customs valuation. The Nixon Administration wants ASP repealed. Industry and labor witnesses, with the exception of the American Importers Association, testifying at House Ways and Means Committee hearings want ASP kept intact. Thomas P. Turchan, president of the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA), said that after only two of five scheduled 10% Kennedy round tariff cuts, benzenoid chemical imports have already risen 50% in only two years. Robert C. Barnard, counsel for SOCMA and the Dry Color Manufacturers Association, spelled out some details. Dye imports have increased 10 C&EN JUNE 15, 1970
60% in the past two years, dye exports have decreased, and the U.S. trade deficit in dyes has more than tripled to $41 million. The U.S. share of world chemical exports has fallen from 29.6% in 1960 to 21.9% in 1969, Mr. Turchan said. He cited the chemical industry's favorable contribution to the U.S. balance of payments—one of several timetested arguments used to defend
SOCMA's Turchan U.S. share has fallen
ASP—and attacked the lack of reciprocity in both the ASP package and in the Kennedy round chemicals agreement. F. Leonard Bryant, former chairman of the board of the Manufacturing Chemists Association (MCA) and chairman of the board of Hooker Chemical, underscored the chemical industry's need for ASP and also took a dim view of the lack of reciprocity. He then pointed out sections of the Administration bill, H.R. 14870, and a trade bill by Rep. Wilbur Mills (D.Ark.) H.R. '16920, that MCA says needs modification. MCA recommends that the President's authority to further reduce tariffs beyond the Kennedy round should be limited to 109c, criteria for relief from import injury should be based on a "substantial" cause and should be identical for industries, firms, and workers, and his authority to retaliate against discriminatory acts by U.S. trading partners should be extended. The hearings end June 18. Chances that ASP repeal will be in the final draft of the committee's trade bill appear to be slim if a comment by Rep. Mills at the end of SOCMA's testimony is accepted at face value. Rep. Mills mused that it might be a good idea to apply ASP to all commodities.
DDT:
Olin to Cease Output Olin Corp., producer of about 30 million pounds of D D T annually, or about 30% of total U.S. production based on 1969 production estimates, is going out of the D D T business on June 30. Olin's announcement last week came three days after a move on June 5 by conservationist groups to force a halt in D D T emissions from Olin's only DDT plant at Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Ala. The Environmental Defense Fund, the National Audubon Society, and the National Wildlife Federation had demanded stricter standards on D D T emissions to protect wildlife in the nearby Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. Olin informed the conservationist groups by telegram that the decision to halt production was reached on May 12 but couldn't be announced until negotiations on the shutdown were completed. More than half of the production at Olin's plant goes overseas for use in controlling malaria and other diseases. Olin says these needs can be provided by other U.S. facilities and foreign suppliers. Gordon Grand, Olin's president and chief executive officer, says the company's policy is to conform not only with current standards but also with those Olin expects to be in effect in 1974. Although the D D T plant operates well under current emission limits of 10 parts per billion parts of water, he added, Olin expects stricter controls for D D T in 1974. Thus, continued operation of the D D T plant would be inconsistent with the company's expressed policy. The ranks of D D T producers in the U.S. are rapidly thinning. Allied Chemical stopped production more than a year ago. Diamond Shamrock halted its U.S. production in
Olin's Grand Conforming with 1974 standards
