The Tariff Threat to Washington's Industry
An editorial warning that congressional efforts to remove coal and lumber tariffs could spell economic ruin for the region.
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The Post-Intelligencer has already referred to the efforts being made to move the tariff on coal and lumber. The Morrison Bill now pending before the House of Representatives places the former on the free list and raises the tariff on the latter to merely nominal figures. It is scarcely necessary to point out the effect which such a measure would have upon Western Washington. It would be a death blow to our most important industries—to industries upon which fully one-half of our population depends directly or indirectly for support. San Francisco is our only considerable coal market, and even with the present tariff of seventy-five cents per ton, the product of our mines is barely able to compete with foreign coal.
“It would be a death blow to our most important industries—to industries upon which fully one-half of our population depends directly or indirectly for support.”
This editorial reflects the perennial tension between Washington's natural resource-based economy and national trade policy. The fear of external markets gutting local wages and production remains a common theme in regional political discourse today.
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