Summary of the Report
This leads us back to the earlier chapters of this report, which may be summarized as follows:
In chapter I, Stalin’s Lopsided Economy, we looked at the basic economic structure of the Soviet Union. Beginning in the 1920’s, the Bolsheviks deliberately concentrated on an industrial-military buildup, at great cost to their peoples. After the war, the same pattern was forced upon the European satellite countries. Trade was reoriented away from the West. That did not mean that the bloc could do without Western goods, but the goal was to obtain those imports that would help the bloc become more powerful and less dependent on the free world. The Kremlin also sought to use trade to divide the Western powers and to increase the reliance of free-world nations on the bloc. These Soviet policies—not Western strategic controls—were the main causes of the low level of East-West trade as compared with prewar. Stalin, shortly before his death, made it clear that he welcomed the establishment of a divided trade world—he saw it as a boon to communism and a blow to the non-Communist nations.
In chapter II, The New Regime and the Consumer, we described the new economic courses announced by the Soviet bloc governments after Stalin’s death. They made a great fanfare about providing more consumer goods to the people and improving the neglected agricultural sectors. But their steps did not go very far, and the purpose was to benefit the state and not the people. They apparently were trying to ease internal pressures—especially in the satellites—by opening the valves a little, as they had done before. But they did not alter the basic war orientation of their economies and they pressed on with the industrial-military buildup.
In chapter III, The Kremlin’s Recent Trading Activities, we reviewed the so-called trade offensive—the various Soviet activities of 1953 and the early part of 1954 which seemed to show a livelier interest in East-West trade. The U.S.S.R. concluded more trade agreements, ordered consumer goods at a somewhat brisker rate, but also expanded its efforts to buy ships and showed plainly that its principal interest was still centered on the kind of materials that would foster industrial expansion. To help pay for imports, the Communist planners put manganese, oil and gold on the market in larger quantities than in recent years, though history showed that they had done the same thing in the past when it served their purposes. They also tried to increase their influence in Latin America and Asia.
In chapter IV, What’s Behind It All, we examined the motives and the goals of the Soviet planners in all these recent trading activities. Oversimplified explanations should be avoided. Their actions are not motivated by a pursuit of peace—at least not peace as the West knows the term. Their motives are mixed. In changing circumstances they are seeking effective ways of accomplishing the same traditional objectives of feeding the economy—especially the heavy industrial base—and of weakening the free world. The free world is strong, and if free nations refuse to be divided or deceived—if they work shoulder to shoulder to prevent the Soviet bloc from getting the advantage—they can trade with the Soviet bloc on terms that bring benefits to the free world.
In chapter V, U.S. Policy on Strategic Trade Controls, we outlined the factors involved in setting policy. Not merely because of Soviet activities but also because of the vast upsurge of free-world production and other considerations, 1953 brought a thorough review of United States policy. The basic policy was reaffirmed, but shifts in emphasis were made to meet current conditions and establish controls on a long-haul basis. Policy on the China trade did not change at all during the 6 months under review. Free-world trade with Communist China dropped sharply in that period, partly because of unequal trading terms that the Chinese Communists were trying to impose upon free-world traders. Finally, the United States reaffirmed its traditional policy of treating its friends and allies with respect. In the words of President Eisenhower, “this most powerful of the free nations must not permit itself to grow weary of the processes of negotiation and adjustment that are fundamental to freedom.”