Post-War International Trade Arrangements

Abstract

International discussions with a view to establishing improved conditions in international trade began early in the war. There was a general feeling that world trading relations during the inter-war period, particularly after 1929, had been most unsatisfactory. It was realized also that at the conclusion of hostilities large quantities of capital equipment would have been destroyed or worn out, that the relative financial position of the major trading countries would be drastically altered, and that the productive structures and capacities of all but a few of the belligerents would be badly disrupted. Since wide reconversion and reconstruction were going to be necessary in any event, national economies could perhaps be moulded with a view to fitting in with more liberal trading policies and, if the type of framework for expanding multilateral trade could be established, there was less possibility of countries developing what they might feel later were vested rights in restrictive business practices.Consequently, as early as 1942, a series of international discussions was begun with the object of establishing those monetary and trade relations which would provide the desired framework for international trade. The outcome has been the establishment of, or provision for, a number of interrelated international institutions. While the whole programme has included many provisions, such as UNRRA., E.R.P. and the like, to meet temporary problems, and while some of these are of great importance in helping to place disrupted economies in a position where they can play their part in a restored world economy, from the long-run point of view the major achievements are four in number: the establishment of an International Bank for Reconstruction and Development; the establishment of an International Monetary Fund; the preparation of a final draft of a charter to establish an International Trade Organization; and the conclusion of the Geneva Trade Agreement, lowering barriers to trade among the most important trading nations of the world.