CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE

August 29, 1959

Page 16728

STATEMENT BY THE HON. EDMUND S. MUSKIE, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MAINE

I would like to be associated with those supporting S. 913 , introduced by Senator CLINTON ANDERSON of New Mexico. S. 913 is of importance to at least one manufacturer of wood molding in the State of Maine. I believe that the problems faced by this one company in Maine are typical of those facing the domestic industry. It is an industry in which all of the production units are small. The company in my State employs between 45 and 50 people. This is characteristic of the molding industry in the United States. Rarely, if ever, would a plant employ more than 100 men. It is a specialty industry run by individuals or small corporations. This industry has been struggling against imports from Mexico, imports which come into this country at prices which are approximately 25 percent under the market price of domestic products. This inequitable relationship with the imports from Mexico is directly related to the fact that Mexico laborers are paid daily wages which are fantastically below the minimum American wage in the industry. As a matter of fact, the average American lumber industry wage earner earns about as much in half an hour as the average Mexico lumber industry wage earner earns in a day. I shall support S. 913, because by assessing all molding imports at 17 percent ad valorem, our American domestic Industry will have a better chance to survive in a highly competitive environment.