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NEW YORK TIMES of May 16th

ASK TARIFF CHANGE TO SPEED VALUATIONS

J.B. Herzog Says Amendment Urged by Importers Here Has Been Ignored
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The recent announcement by the United States Appraiser here that all imports from Gablonz, Czechoslovakia, have become subject to "withheld appraisement," focuses attention on a glaring omission in the bill introduced into the House some days ago covering changes in the administrative provisions of the present Tariff Act, James B. Herzog, vice president of S. Stern, Stiner & Co., customs brokers, said yesterday.

Importers have petitioned the department repeatedly to amend the law, he said, by requiring appraisers to fix values on the basis of information in their possession at the time goods arrived, or to fix a time limit within which the appraiser must act.  At present there is no limitation when appraisement is withheld to permit investigation abroad of the proper value.  The time taken for such reports and the final appraisememt, he pointed out, frequently runs to two years, during which the importer is put to the expense of getting single entry bonds for each shipment of goods.  The cost of the bonds, ranging from $5 upward, amounts to a substantial sum before final appraisement is made, he said.

At present, in addition to goods from Gablonz, Czechoslovakia, the Treasury Department has ordered withheld appraisements on musical instruments, kid gloves, tale, wool felt hats, straw hats, artificial silk yarn, silk yarn, blankets and a number of other commodities.  On some of the merchandise, investigations have been on for months, according to importers, while on others the inquiries have just begun.

"it has been conceded by high protectionist," Mr. Herzog added, "that a very important effect of imported merchandise is to serve as a check on the upward movement of the prices of the dometsic goods.  The administration in the last few weeks has indicated its dissatisfaction with the steadily increasing cost of living and has tried to hold back increasing prices.  Yet the administration's present practice as regards imported goods destroys the beneficial effect that imports have on domestic prices, by artificially increasing quotations of such foreign wares."
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