Exporting the Cold War: British Responses to the USA's Establishment of COCOM, 1947-51

Abstract

This article casts a special light on the early years of America's attempts to control East-West trade and on the responses to these measures by the UK, then heavily dependent on trade with the USSR. Britain at that time was rebuilding its internal economy and, more importantly, re-establishing the global sterling area trading network upon which much of its internal economy was based. Because of its heavy indebtedness to the US and America's refusal to trade with it in other than the US dollar, Britain relied on its trade with the remainder of the world then regarded as soft currency areas, including the Russian rouble. But with its indebtedness, the strength of the dollar and its demand for US technologies, Britain could not afford to disregard the strategiceconomic measures being directed from Washington.1 Trading relations had existed between Britain and Russia from the 1850s, with the trade balance always in Russia's favour. In 1870 British imports from Russia were ?16.1 million against ?2.9 million exported to Russia. Similar figures for 1880 were ?16 million and ?11 million, for 1890 ?24.8 million and ?8.8 million, for 1900 ?22 million and ?16.4 million, and for 1910 ?43.6 million and ?21.2 million; by 1920 they had fallen to ?2.7 million and ?3.4 million. However, by 1939 they had grown to ?19.5 million and ?17.4 million.2 Interwar trade was marked by several hiccups, such as the Arcos raid of 1927 and the resultant severing for a short time of diplomatic relationships, and by another severance in 1933. Much of colonial commodity exports for Russia passed through London in the form of Malayan tin and rubber, Australian wool and minerals and Indian tea and jute. This was paid for with Soviet exports to Britain of timber, agricultural products and basic manufactured goods such as matches.3 Other European countries