The_Open_Door_deel1

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As a result of this review in 1972 the Liberian Government and
Libeth on January 1, 1973 signed a Supplemental Tax Agreement.
The Government had apparently aimed at eliminating the depletion
allowance (68) but the Supplemental Tax Agreement only lowered
its rate to 11? of Libeth's Gross Income from the sale of its
ore, thereby constituting the only difference between the two
Tax treaties (69).
Critics of the current Administration here point to President
Tolbert's comprising relations with the Bethlehem Steel
Corporation (70). In 1974 President Tolbert received from the
hands of Bethlehem Steel's President, Lewis W. Foy, the "Family
of Man Award", thereby becoming the twelfth recipient of the
"Family of Man Gold Medallion" which is yearly awarded by the
Council of Churches of Greater New York City. (Among previous
recipients of this Award are the U.S. Presidents Kennedy,
Eisenhower, Nixon, Johnson, as well as former U.S. Secretary of
State Kissinger, further John D. Rockefeller III). Bethlehem's
Director Foy presented William Tolbert with the Award "for being
the leader of One of Africa's most progressive republics and for
his continuing commitment as a Baptist clergyman to the Christian
religion in African and the whole world" (71),
Despite the lowering of the percentage depletion allowance Libeth
during the years 1973 through 1977 deducted an amount of
$ 15,966,000.00 as depletion allowance, compared to
$ 12,819,000.00 deducted in the 1963 - 1973 period (72). The loss
of potential revenue for the Liberian Government here amounts to
about $ 14«4 million. Total income of the Government from Libeth
amounted to $ 36,608,000.00 (1963 through 1977) but as a result
of these and other (legal) practices Bethlehem's share in the
profits in the same period amounted to $ 69,335,000.00.
Fiscal aspects of the LAMCO JOINT VENTURE
Total direct income (i.e. profit-sharing and royalties for
the Government from the LAMCO Joint Venture amounted to
$ 111,425,000 in the years 1963 through 1977 (see Table 13).
This was a very substantial amount, indeed, and a significant
portion of the total national revenue but still less than the
sum LAMCO's lenders alone received as interest income in the
same period: $ 119,029,000 (see Table 14).
The total value of the LAMCO Joint Venture's ore output in the
years 1963 through 1977 was $ 1,291,593,000.00 which means that
out of every dollar of sales of the Joint Venture, the Government
had received 8.6 cents, against the private investors 18.0 cents.
A comparison shows that the Government's income per dollar of
sales were higher in the case of Libeth than in that of LAMCO.
In the case of Libeth the Liberian Government received 11.5 cents