"Buy Free World"

The best way for U.S. allies to close dangerous dollar gaps in their economies is to sell more of their goods in the vast U.S. market. EGA officials and U.S. industrialists have long preached the need for Europeans to look for new ways of appealing to the U.S. consumers, thus earn dollars to help pay for heavy U.S. imports to their own countries. By last week it was clear that the American pep talks to Europeans had run into some embarrassing contradictions.

Turning the heat on the U.S. Tariff Commission, many U.S. manufacturers are asking and getting stiff tariff increases on competitive European products.* Other companies are insisting that U.S. Government agencies, which spend immense sums for equipment and supplies, must "Buy American"--in conformity with a 1933 law which prevents federal agencies from buying foreign goods unless they are at least 25% cheaper (after paying the U.S. tariff) than comparable U.S. products.

At a press conference in Washington, Secretary of State Dean Acheson brought the situation into the open. The Italian government, he said, had recently complained to the U.S. about growing tariff restrictions and the Buy American discrimination. Specifically, Rome noted that U.S. manufacturers had persuaded the U.S. Tariff Commission to raise import duties on such Italian products as oranges, almonds, cheese and felt hat bodies. Said Acheson: "Inconsistencies in U.S. policies, caused by pressures for trade restrictions, weaken our world leadership . . ."

Other allies have also voiced their concern over the revival of U.S. protectionist policies. London is worried about possible hikes in U.S. tariff rates on motorcycles, bicycles, chinaware, tobacco pipes and wood screws. The Netherlands is worried about the prospects of selling its Edam cheese; Denmark has similar fears for its exports of Blue cheese, which add up to only a minuscule percentage of U.S. consumption but could pay for one-third of the coal Denmark must import from the U.S. each year. Peru, encouraged by Point Four officials to develop tuna fishing, feels threatened by the demand of U.S. tuna fisheries for a protective tariff.

The protectionist pressure, if not held back, can play havoc with the weak economies of America's partners abroad, and the greater the dollar gap, the greater the peril to the free world's security. The New York Times last week proposed a change in U.S. slogans; in place of "Buy American" it suggested "Buy Free World."

* Under the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act, as renewed and amended in 1951, the Tariff Commission must investigate all requests for higher duties. When the level of any import reaches a so-called "peril point" (i.e., threatens to hurt domestic producers), tariffs must be automatically raised.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.