Beginning in November. leaks of the proposed plan began to appear in the press and copies of the proposed program were either released or bootlegged. As stated in the report. a proposed tariff system would supplant the present quota program with an objective "to move domestic market prices smoothly to their lower levels in all sections of the country while imports rise gradually to their higher level." The proposed program outlined a plan by which: First. a $2.50 south Louisiana wellhead price. for 30degree crude. is achieved by the end of a 2- or 3year transition period. Second. subsidies embodied in the current quota system are phased out over a suitable period. Third. tariffs are used as the basic method of import restrictions. with some reserve mechanism to prevent any sudden or excessive increase in the volume of imports from Eastern Hemisphere sources. Fourth. a tariff exemption is extended to Canadian imports in the context of common policies to be negotiated on related energy matters. with an initially lesser preference for Latin American importssubject to expansion over time with increases In U.S.
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quota system