When President Eisenhower approved a boost of up to 50% in tariffs on Swiss watches last summer, he gave a reason that even the most ardent low-tariff men found hard to attack. The Office of Defense Mobilization, said Ike, had found from an interdepartmental report that "preservation of the unique skills of this industry [in the U.S.] is essential to the national security." Last week, after months of prodding by U.S. watch importers, the Defense Department released a report of its own that took a position quite different from that of ODM.
More than two months before Eisenhower made his...
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