East-West Trade Trends / Mutual Defense Assistance Control Act of 1951 (the Battle Act); Fourth Report to Congress, Second Half of 1953

by United States. Foreign Operations Administration

Trade Within the Free World

Toward the close of the 6-month period under review, the President’s Commission on Foreign Economic Policy (Randall Commission) was hard at work. There was a great amount of public discussion, continuing into 1954, concerning ways in which the United States and other free-world countries could eliminate or reduce the obstacles that hinder the international exchange of goods.

The Commission, issuing its report in January, had much to say on the reduction of trade obstacles.

The Commission also included a section on East-West trade, recommending that the United States not object to more trade in peaceful goods between Western Europe and the European bloc.

These two subjects, trade liberalization and East-West trade, are connected with each other. When businessmen in free-world countries are hindered—either by trade barriers or other artificial causes—from selling products in other free-world countries, they are more prone to seek markets in the Soviet bloc.

To a certain extent this aggravates the problem of maintaining adequate strategic trade controls and the problem that some free-world countries have of avoiding undue dependence on the Soviet bloc.

It would be impractical to seek the elimination of all trade restrictions within the free world but it is important to reduce unjustifiable barriers and it is also important to take whatever other steps are possible to develop new markets and new sources of supply.

To bring alternative markets and supplies into being is not an overnight task but it must be done. It means the reduction of many restrictions in the United States, thus allowing more goods to come in from our friends and allies. It means a similar loosening of restrictions by other free nations. It means more and better economic integration among the European countries. It means steady advancement in the economic development of the underdeveloped areas of the world.

All those things are important for many reasons. East-West trade is one aspect of the matter. The United States Government recognizes that hindrances to the exchange of goods within the free world do have a definite relationship to the international system of strategic trade controls.