256. Editorial Note
On May 24, the Cabinet approved a minerals policy and related program, submitted by the Department of the Interior, designed to preserve domestic capacity in metals and minerals production [Page 690] through subsidies and import excise taxes. The decision was taken despite Department of State opposition on the grounds that tariff or quota restrictions would be contrary to the administration’s goal to lower international trade barriers. Documentation on the Department of State’s attitude toward these proposals is in Department of State, Central Files 411.004, 411.006, and 811.2543. In a memorandum of May 21 to the Secretary of State, Under Secretary Dillon outlined the Department’s attitude on the proposed tariffs on lead and zinc. (Ibid., 411.004/5–2357) Details of the Department of the Treasury’s objections are described in Laurence B. Robbins’ letter of May 3 to Secretary Seaton. (Department of Treasury Records, Humphrey Papers, Presidential Advisory Committee on Energy Supplies and Resources Policy, The President’s Cabinet Committee on Minerals Policy, 1954–1957)
In February 1957, the Department of the Interior circulated to interested agencies a proposed statement concerning a long-range minerals program for submission of Congress. It was considered on an interdepartmental basis and revised several times. The drafts are in the Eisenhower Library: the April 17 draft entitled, “Department of the Interior Proposals for Long-Range Minerals Program,” is in the Records of the Cabinet Secretariat, 1953–1960; the May 22 draft is in the Whitman File; and the final draft, dated June 4, is in the CFEP Records.
The proposals approved in May for implementation by Congress provided for: 1) imposition of excise taxes upon imports of lead and zinc to become effective when prices of these commodities dropped to prescribed levels and suspension when prices rose above specified levels; 2) strengthening and intensification of the Department of the Interior’s activities in research and technical assistance; 3) the establishment of a continuing program to pay bonuses for a limited production of beryl, columbium-tantalum and chromite as research continued to seek ways making these industries competitive; and 4) making permanent the program of financial assistance for exploration conducted by the Defense Minerals Exploration Administration. The excise taxes were to be equal to the duties recommended by the Tariff Commission in 1954, when a tripling of existing duties was suggested, and were to be imposed in two or three stages, depending on the market price.