Saccharin, according to Mr. Shattuck, is coming into this country from Japan at a duty-paid price of $1.16 per pound, which is below Monsanto's cost of making it. In 1959, Japan supplied 20% of the 1.5 million pound U.S. saccharin market. The present rate, 3 cents per pound plus 19% ad valorem, does not begin to equalize the difference in labor costs between U.S. and Japanese producers, he claims. Japanese labor costs are 39 cents per pound less than those of Monsanto, he estimated. On several products, including titanium dioxide, vanillin, barium compounds, sodium hydrosulfite, calcium hypochlorite, cyclohexylamine, and citric acid, U.S. producers protested further duty cuts. Two titanium dioxide producers, National Lead and Du Pont, said the domestic market is static, exports are falling, imports are growing, and foreign plant capacity is expanding. Imports quadrupled between 1958 and 1959, according to W. Harcourt Woods, National Lead, and total imports in the first half of this year were equal to those for the whole of last year. Although the U.S. may ask for tariff reductions from other countries on titanium dioxide, Mr. Woods believes such cuts would not help U.S. producers because the price of the U.S. product would be higher even before it leaves a U.S. port than that produced abroad. In the case of barium chemicals, the U.S. market remains static or contracted, according to Eugene L. Stewart, counsel for four barium producers. He said that if tariffs on these items are reduced, the resulting stimulation to imports would displace American production. In an escape clause investigation a few years ago, USTC found the barium chloride industry was distressed but not as a result of imports. Chemicals opened the hearings with eight days of sessions before the Tariff Commission and the Committee for Reciprocity Information. Still to be heard are such chemical-consuming industries as man-made fibers, agriculture, metals, and paper. Some 2500 articles are on the import list (each of which requires a peril-point finding by USTC), over 300 separate organizations have asked to be heard in person, and hearings are scheduled continuously through Sept. 8. USTC vice chairman J. Allen Overton, Jr., told C&EN: "This will be a character-building experience."
Drug Makers Air Export Problems Representatives of drug and pharmaceutical manufacturers told Department of Commerce officials their export problems are relatively minor. Reason: Most foreign drug sales are made from foreign-based operations. But, the industry spokesmen said, there are some trade areas where the Government can help. The meeting with spokesmen for the drug industry was the 20th of a weekly series arranged by the Commerce Department to get the views of key industries on what the Government can do to remove barriers to expanded export operations. Commerce officials expect that this information will help U.S. negotiators discuss tariff concessions with other countries at sessions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in September. Government can help by providing capital for foreign expansion through such sources as the Development Loan Fund, the drug industry representatives said. They pointed out that profitable foreign-based operations strengthen U.S. industry. For example, some of the intermediate products used in the materials produced overseas are manufactured in the U.S. Exorbitant tariffs are a problem in some instances, the industry men said. This is a major problem where a country is trying to build up its own industry. Licensing restrictions also cause some difficulties. And Italy presents special problems, according to the industry spokesmen, because patents cannot be obtained on pharmaceuticals. This encourages pirating of American products. The best way to increase exports is to develop new products, the drug industry spokesmen said. They urged the Government to survey the developing countries of the world to determine the demand for drugs and pharmaceuticals. Commerce Department officials pointed out that the series of meetings is part of the Government's foreign trade expansion program designed to help the U.S. get a larger share of the expanding world market. As for the GATT tariff negotiations, Secretary of Commerce Frederick H. Mueller told the drug representatives, "It will be our intention to see to it, so far as possible, that there are no further inroads,
in the way of lowered duties, in those areas where injurious foreign competition has had a substantial effect on domestic production." Meetings with industry groups will continue. Manufacturers of chemical specialties were slated to appear last week.
NSPE Plans to Certify Technicians The National Society of Professional Engineers is launching an organization which will certify technicians in engineering and the physical sciences. NSPE, an organization of about 53,000 engineers, took action at its annual meeting in Boston to start an institute for the Certification of Engineering Technicians and Technologists. Registered professional engineers will join with a qualified group of engineering technologists to govern the organization. Within the two groups, people from the consulting field, government, industry, and education will be represented. Three grades of technicians and technologists with varying qualifications will be set up: engineering technician trainee, engineering technician, and certified engineering technologist. Technical qualifications for these three grades are now being established by NSPE. Examinations will be prepared by the national institute and given to interested persons at the state level. The examinations will be evaluated by the national institute and the people taking the examination will be placed into whichever of the three grades they qualify for. NSPE feels a National Society of Engineering Technicians will develop from the institute. This organization would be independent of NSPE. The certification program intends to upgrade the qualifications and status of engineering technicians, says NSPE. A similar organization is in existence in Canada and technicians there are enthusiastic about it, it adds. Speaking in favor of the program, several NSPE members say it will give the technician "a more attractive alternative than identification through union representation/' NSPE's committee for engineering technicians is now setting up articles of organization and bylaws for the institute, which will make its debut about Jan. 1, 1961. JULY
25,
1960
C&EN
25
