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Under the escape clause, any industry can complain to the Tariff Commission that it is being hurt by imports. The commission can then recommend to the President that the tariff be raised. Presidents have obediently raised tariffs 13 times, turned down the commission's advice 23 times. By law, the President's refusal to raise a tariff can be overridden by a two-thirds vote of the Congress, but this has never happened, since no industry has ever been able to raise such support on Capitol Hill.
To free the President's hands, the Administration's new program would, in effect, make the Tariff Commission a mere fact-finding body. The commission's findings would not bind the President in any way, and he would not be accountable to anyone for the use he makes of the information given him by the commission.
The Kennedy Administration recognizes that some segments of U.S. industry will inevitably be harmed if the new program is enacted. To put them back on their feet, the Administration will propose tax relief and, if necessary, a program for retraining workers. But the President's economic advisers point out that imports compete with only a tiny fraction of U.S. industry; current competitive imports, valued at $5 billion, amount to about 1% of total U.S. production. And the Administration is sure that in the long run the economic growth inspired by lower tariffs here and abroad will more than take care of the domestic dislocations.
*Established by Congress in 1916, the six-man Tariff Commission is bipartisan by law. Appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, the members serve terms of six years.