1002 GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



in times of emergency, and it also represents the labor and the invest- 

 ment of many Americans in those belts where tung trees can be grown. 



The question that we have to decide at the moment is whether or 

 not we are going to willingly sacrifice those American producers, let 

 their groves perish, and depend entirely on China tung again for our 

 American needs. At the moment we are having to compete with all 

 tung coming to us, much of it in exchange for a little rice, in exchange 

 for the basic necessities of life. Speculators in the Far East are able 

 to acquire rice and other things that are in short supply and are des- 

 perately needed by the Chinese, barter it for oil which has no value to 

 a starving man, and dump that oil into this country at a price at which 

 American producers cannot possibly compete. That is in the present 

 period of chaos in China, and no one in the world can predict what the 

 situation in the future is going to be in China. If, as it now appears, 

 China is going to be Communist and we continue to secure oil from 

 China, we can anticipate a continuation of that dumping policy 

 because of the totalitarian. government and their handling of cheap oil 

 under any condition that they want. 



Mr. Pace. Mr. Sikes, may I interrupt you for a question? 



Mr. Sikes. Yes; but will you let me first complete this statement? 



Mr. Pace. Certainly. 



Mr. Sikes. I think it would be dangerous in the extreme to feel 

 that we could depend upon Communist China for the tung oil that we 

 must have for our purpose. 



Now I will be glad to answer the gentleman's question. 



Mr. Pace. You present a question that is rather difficult and some- 

 what singular. I am advised that the import duty on tung oil is zero. 



Mr. Sikes. That is correct. 



Mr. Pace. Down to zero? 



Mr. vSikes. That is correct. 



Mr. Pace. That is not true with respect to many other commodi- 

 ties on which there is a support price. Therefore a support price, 

 whatever it might be, zero or 100 percent of parity, in the absence of 

 some change in respect to the import duty, would mean that the 

 Government would necessarily have to take the entire product of 

 tung oil in this country. Is it your understanding that no import duty 

 could be imposed on tung oil without some change in the Reciprocal 

 Trade Agreements Act? 



Mr. Sikes. I will not attempt to answer my distinguished friend's 

 question by saying that there could be no imposition of such a duty. 

 Frankly my legal knowledge does not go that far. It has been my 

 thought that if a duty could be imposed, that the Ways and Means 

 Committee in the House and the proper committee of the other body, 

 by legislation, give the kind of protection which the gentleman is 

 discussing. I may be wrong. 



Mr. Pace. Mr. Hope has some questions. 



Mr. Hope. The same thing would apply if we should make tung 

 oil a commodity on which there was a support price if we attempt to 

 give protection under -section 22,, since under section 22, as it now 

 stands, any relief that might be accorded is subject to any agreements 

 which we may have with foreign countries on trade, so that I assume 

 there is no possibility of any relief under section 22, such as putting 

 tung-oil imports under a quota, or putting a special tax on it, even if 

 we should have price support. Have you looked into that phase of it? 



