The Revival of Trade between the "Communist Bloc" and the West

Abstract

Since the death of Stalin, trade between the Western democracies and East European Communist countries has been on the increase. The economies of the Communist countries are evolving in a direction of lessened rigidity and greater diversity. The countries of West Europe, with a greater dependence on trade than the United States, have pursued trade with the Communist countries more than has the United States. The policy of the United States government is to expand East-West trade in peaceful goods. There are political as well as economic advantages to be gained by such trade. The President needs legislative authority to be able best to use trade relations with East Europe most effectively in the na tional interest. Such legislation would permit the United States to negotiate a removal of tariff discrimination in return for benefits from the Communist countries, such as nondiscriminatory treatment for United States businessmen, with respect to market and trading access, and agreement on settlement of disputes. Meaningful agreements between a free market system and state trading systems will not be easy to reach. However, the free market countries of West Europe have worked out agreements that have been mutually profitable. There is no reason why the United States cannot do the same, to our economic and political advantage.