Trade bill draft offers end to ASP system

Abstract

House Ways and Means Committee action on repeal of the American Selling Price (ASP) system of import valuation appears to have not only split the committee itself but also has ruptured—at least temporarily—the chemical industry's united defense of ASP. The committee, chaired by long-time free trade advocate Wilbur Mills (D.-Ark.), included an arrangement in the final draft of the committee trade bill earlier this month that would allow President Nixon to abandon the almost half-century-old tariff system after Jan. 1. The committee also voted to include man-made fibers under quota provisions. The decision to include ASP repeal came on the last day of committee deliberations of the bill's provisions. The committee arrived at an accommodation which would call for repeal of ASP but would include a provision that would require Mr. Nixon to take another look at the separate package agreement—of which ASP is a part—to determine if the U.S. has received reciprocity. If he ...