Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 1, 1994 TAG: 9412010092
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Beneath the glowing principles of GATT is a mountain of minutia, a collection of exotic and ordinary things that trading nations say should become cheaper for nearly everyone.
Consider: Beer drinkers abroad should be able to load up on Bud without losing their shirts. And after all these years, American swine livers should finally be within reach of the average European shopper.
There's something in the deal for Americans, too. They should get a bit of a break on imported garlic, tulip bulbs, refrigerators, bamboo luggage and pig fat.
There are good times ahead for bicyclists needing inner tubes. And U.S. duties on bulldozers, bayonets, buttons and bras will come down - some a little, some a lot.
Legislation implementing the expanded General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade passed Tuesday in the House and will be voted on today in the Senate.
If it is approved, overall duties would drop by about one-third in the United States and the other 123 countries that are signed on. Some cuts start Jan. 1; others are staged over 10 years.
They're all spelled out in tariff schedules stacked at the U.S. Trade Representative's Office - the ultimate catalogue of what the world makes and buys.
U.S. supporters talk of the opportunities it will bring to American exporters, especially farmers, who will be able to sell more to Japan and Europe, and high-tech companies poised for gains in long-protected markets.
Beyond that, Japanese duties will drop to 14.4 percent from 22.5 percent on American prune juice, to zero from 15 percent on beer, and to zero from 24.5 percent on whiskey.
Critics say even the limited round of U.S. tariff and quota cuts will put thousands of jobs at risk in the textile, dairy and other import-sensitive industries already reeling from foreign competition.
``I went out to buy toys for my godchildren last weekend - couldn't find a single one made in America,'' Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio said. ``Canned fruit from Thailand, VCRs from Japan. It's hard to find an American product to buy.''
U.S. duties already are low by world standards, so benefits to American consumers are expected to be modest. Still, officials suggest even little price cuts could save families a few hundred dollars a year.
So let's go GATT shopping.
Imagine a mall stocked with items described in the 1,281 pages of the U.S. tariff schedule (17 pages on chocolate alone).
In the grocery store, imported steak is 10 percent cheaper. Frozen cuts of foreign chicken are down 4.4 cents a kilogram. Cinnamon and molasses are down almost imperceptibly. Imported toilet paper is 3.5 percent cheaper.
Now the toy store. Stuffed dolls, electric trains, robots, monsters, tea sets, crossword puzzle books and kites - all now subject to a 6.8 percent duty - are duty free in the GATT mall, most of them immediately.
In the clothing store, shoppers must pick carefully to reap the benefits of GATT.
The 18.8 percent duty on women's cotton suits is dropping by half over 10 years, but the 12.2 percent duty on cotton dresses is going down less than a percentage point.
Duties are being halved on men's wool suits. And if the suit is a synthetic-wool blend, the entire duty - 77.2 cents a kilogram plus 20 percent of the suit's value - will be eliminated.
Several bargains await the shopper at the sporting goods store. The 20 percent duty on hockey gloves is going, as is the 15 percent duty on inner tubes. Imported silk track suits are dropping as much as 23 percent.
At the variety store, duty-free window air conditioners, refrigerators, sewing machines, telephone answering machines, bentwood furniture, instant-print cameras, candles and incandescent light bulbs will be on display.
Then there are items not to be found at a mall.
The 10 percent duty on live mules and hinnies drops to 4.5 percent if they are not to be slaughtered immediately. A hinny is a cross between a stallion and an ass that has a bushier tail than a mule.
Somebody might benefit from the duty reduction on this item: ``Human hair, unworked, whether or not washed or scoured.'' Same deal on ``waste of human hair.''
If all that makes a person want to celebrate, foreign fireworks will be cheaper, too.
by CNB