377. Editorial Note
On May 28, 1968, President Johnson submitted the Trade Expansion Act of 1968 to Congress with a message explaining the bill’s provisions and outlining the administration’s foreign trade policy. The bill would:
extend the President’s authority to make tariff adjustments through June 30, 1970, authority which had expired June 30, 1967;
eliminate the American Selling Price valuation system to give effect to the supplementary agreement negotiated at Geneva which would lower foreign tariffs on American chemicals and reduce certain nontariff barriers—road taxes and tariff preferences—on American automobiles and tobacco;
authorize appropriations for the American share of expenses of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade;
broaden eligibility for assistance to businessmen and workers facing serious problems as a result of increased imports; and,
extend similar provisions for assistance in the Automotive Trade Act of 1965 (P.L. 89–283, approved October 21, 1965; 79 Stat. 1016) for 3 years to June 30, 1971.
President Johnson also cautioned against passage of trade restrictive bills then before Congress covering about $7 billion of American imports. He urged passage of an anti-inflation tax bill he had recommended to prevent price increases which would result in decreased exports and increased imports. He also called for elimination of nontariff barriers, citing the example of the American Selling Price valuation system, [Page 974] and referring to American efforts in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in this regard. In order to develop a long-range policy to guide American trade expansion through the 1970s, he said that he had asked the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations to prepare a study on future requirements. For text of his message, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1968–69, Book I, pages 648–652.
The House Ways and Means Committee held hearings for 18 days in June and July 1968 on trade policy including the proposed Trade Expansion Act of 1968 (H.R. 17551, 90th Congress), but took no further action on it. (Foreign Trade and Tariff Proposals: Hearings Before the Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, Ninetieth Congress, Second Session, on Tariff and Trade Proposals, Parts 1–11 (Washington, 1968–1969) The administration, however, did succeed in beating back the protectionist drive in Congress as protectionist measures either failed of adoption or were contained by compromise. The Revenue and Expenditure Control Act of 1968, referred to as the income tax surcharge, was approved June 28; P.L. 90–364; 82 Stat. 251.
On January 15, 1969, the President announced that William M. Roth, Special Representative for Trade Negotiations, had submitted a report entitled, “Future United States Foreign Trade Policy: Report to the President Submitted by the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations.” The report, which was prepared with the collaboration of the Public Advisory Committee on Trade Policy established on August 30, 1968, by Executive Order 11425 (33 Federal Register 12363; 3 CFR 133), is summarized in Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, volume 5, page 92.