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Show Reciprocal Trade Is Vital To Well-Being of the World By BAUKHAGE fYetc, -Analyst and Commentator WASHINGTON. Despite the spirited battle over extension exten-sion of the reciprocal trade agreement authority, nothing which even its best friends could hope to do about it would be definitive, defini-tive, for everyone knew from the start that final action must be postponed until next year. Reciprocal trade agreements have been a definite part of our foreign trade policy for 14 years. If they were of any value in the past, they are of even more value now. But with an election a little more than four months off and congress trying to break a log jam of legislation, lengthy debate on the subject was Impossible. Putting it backwards, the reciprocal recip-rocal trade agreement policy is this: If a country is prevented by a high tariff wall from selling to us, it can't get the dollars to buy from us. Or, if the country has borrowed money from us, it can't get the dollars to pay us back. That's what hap-pened hap-pened after World War I, and the breakdown break-down in foreign trade was one of the great factors "restrictions on or crippling of the trade agreements program would have very undesirable repercussions. repercus-sions. Discontinuance or impairment impair-ment would destroy consistency in United States policy and would undermine world confidence." Former Republican presidential candidate Alfred E. Landon came out in favor of the three-year extension ex-tension of the trade agreements act as urged by the administration. He said that failure to extend the act would be contrary to the Republican policy plank of 1944. Frequent public opinion polls have shown that the majority of the people favor trade treaties. In fact, persons who know what trade treaties are vote better than eight to one to retain them. I'm no economic expert, but all I have ever read or heard about the old high protective tariff debates, de-bates, the experience under the Smoot-Hawley bill, the post-World War I debt repudiation and depression depres-sion would seem to indicate that the high tariff idea . should and would be dead as a dodo. If not, it means we spin the wheel backward to the grand old day, of high tariffs which killed foreign trade, made it Impossible for foreign for-eign countries to sell u, goods and spend their money here, or to pay back the money they owed us simply to protect certain private interests. This Convention Is Different As the Republicans swing into action ac-tion with tlie greatest hope they have had for electing a president since the fifth birthday of this' year's first voters, there are a number num-ber of striking contrasts to be noted between this convention in Philadelphia Phila-delphia and former GOP conclaves. One big contrast is In the size of the audience which actually will behold the speakers as they step forward onto the rostrum. In 1940, some 10,000 people not actually in the hall witnessed the convention. in bringing on depression. But that isn't the only thing that tariff walls do. They tend to force isolationism, extreme nationalism on a country and behind the tariff walls, as ex-Secretary of State Cor-dell Cor-dell Hull used to say so often, grow the roots of war. Secretary of State Marshall stated that the Gearhart bill would destroy the substance of the reciprocal trade theory, a theory which Is not only the cornerstone cor-nerstone of our general foreign trade policy, but the principle which we have Insisted must be followed by nations participating In the European recovery program. pro-gram. The secretary said that "only the shadow of the original act would be preserved In the substitute bill proposed pro-posed by Representative Gearhart, while its substance would be destroyed." de-stroyed." And he added: "I think our national interests would be bet- 1 ter preserved to permit the trade agreements act to expire than to 1 permit H.R. 6556 to be enacted." j He pointed out that any serious weakening of the trade agreements act at this critical period in world j affair, would "almost certainly be regarded by other countries not only a, a surrender of our leadership leader-ship In the International economic field, but as a repudiation of much that ha, been accomplished under Two television cameras mirrored mir-rored the scenes to a fairly select audience, some of it composed of persons fortunate enough to share the hospitality of the Railroad club In the same 'building as the hall. There one could escape the sound and fury, the glare of the lights, the heat and aridity, and could snack and sip In a comfortable comfor-table chair. This year in Philadelphia, the estimated television audience will be counted in the millions, for networks net-works will carry the scene to viewer, view-er, from Massachusetts to California. Cali-fornia. Instead of two lonely cameras, cam-eras, there will be the pooled equipment equip-ment and programming of the various va-rious nets. But there is a greater contrast in the Republican political situation situa-tion than in the delegates' physical physi-cal surroundings between today and 1940. No one who witnessed the Willkie stampede can forget. It was just about as unorthodox a procedure as history records, for the candidate wa, chosen, not in the hall, nor in a smoke-filled room either, but out in the sticks. If this 1, to be a "wireless" convention, the 1940 af- our leadership In that field." Presumably he meant this: When we agreed to the European recovery plan (E.C.A.), one of the things we emphasized, demanded In fact, was that the countries receiving re-ceiving our aid would have to break down tariff barriers against each other and the rest of the world. We knew there couldn't be economic recovery If there was not a free flow of world trade. Even before the E.C.A. was ever thought of since 1934, as a matter of fact by vigorously pursuing the reciprocal idea, by concluding reciprocal re-ciprocal trade treaties with so many countries (we have them with all but six or seven of the Marshall plan participants) we have encouraged the world to reduce tariff tar-iff walls. Thus it would hardly ,eem consistent suddenly to reverse ourselves and go back to the old day, of high tariff economic isolationism. isola-tionism. ; The measure as the house pre- : sented it had another drawback in the eyes of Secretary Marshall and i supporters of hi, point of view. The ! bill would force the President either to accept the recommendation, of the federal tariff commission on ad- justment, above or below a certain bracket or submit them to a con-; con-; gressional veto. That sound, rea-j. rea-j. : ' sonable in theory, but what it does j ; is to smash absolutely the whole ,t: basis for reciprocal trade negotia-j: negotia-j: i tion. s A nasty little joker in the meas- ure stating that tariff commission i recommendations must be made on the principle of protecting the special spe-cial interests concerned revealed the intent of its framers. That pro- i ; vision would destroy the purpose of ', negotiation by removing . trade agreements from the field of the "general good" and narrowing them down to a question of whether the particular industry is to be pro- tected from competition. Thus, not only would international relations and conditions have to be ignored entirely, but broad national inter- ests as well. J Secretary Marshall used strong words in criticizing this clause when he said: "The bill. In effect, j makes pure protection the sole j criterion for tariff action." ' Very few groups outside of the big industries which want to keep down foreign competition oppose ''i the reciprocal trade program. The great majority of the chamber, of commerce are for it. Earl Shreve, national president of the chamber of commerce, ha, said that any 1. ii I: fair was a convention "by wire." A group of high-pressure amateurs, ama-teurs, who were no amateurs when it came to organized action, wa, putting pressure on the "big men" in every community, and the "big men" were getting to bosses or to the delegates direct by telegram and telephone. The Willkie amateurs ama-teurs "stole" the show from the professionals, pro-fessionals, and the professionals swore if never would happen again. It isn't happening this year. Another highly interesting contrast con-trast between conventions this time between 1948 and 1944 is the hectic atmosphere of today as opposed op-posed to the comparative calm then. There was a "Dewey-has-it-in-the-bag" feeling back in Chicago four years ago which took the zip out of the Chicago air. Also the war overshadowed over-shadowed the conclave then. The National Republican (the party newspaper) started off its lead article ar-ticle on June 26, 1944: "With the invasion news commanding the attention at-tention of the entire convention . . ." Another contrast between '44 and '48 is In the attitude toward foreign policy. Then It was the most delicate question which faced the platform committee. Today To-day Senator Vandenberg has foreign for-eign policy wrapped up in a neat package signed with his name and sealed with his shrnet ring. That issue is no worry at all. |
