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The program is not a one-way program; it is a reciprocal program. It will strengthen our economy, not weaken it, just as it will strengthen the economy of the nations with which the trade compacts are made. If we increase their ability

to sell to us, we increase their ability to buy from us. If we return to a restrictive tariff policy, the inevitable result must be to restrict the number of ocean freighters coming through the St. Lawrence seaway to use the improved facilities now being installed in the harbors of the Great Lakes.

The day is past when we could say that other nations of the world must buy from us. Russia is making a greatly increased bid for their business. If we lose their business to Russia, we lose much more than dollars. We are likely to lose allies; we face the problem that now friendly nations will be brought within the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union.

We favor increased Federal spending to meet the Russian challenge. We support an increased budget for the Defense Department and an increase in the appropriations for foreign aid. For the same reasons, we support an extension of the reciprocal trade program-but with much greater pleasure because we recognize that for every dollar of aid it gives to the economy of the free nations with whom we deal, there is a dollar of aid for our own economy. When we can make a profit by helping the other fellow, we ought to be good enough Yankee traders to do so with alacrity.

Congress has extended the reciprocal trade act for from 1- to 3-year periods since it first was passed in 1934. The President has proposed that the extension to be voted now be for 5 years, and we wish to particularly support House bill 12591 which provides for that extension.

An extension of the act for that period should have a greatly beneficial effect throughout the world. It would tell the other nations of the world that they could depend on us and could make their long-range plans accordingly. It would give them the assurance they need to resist the blandishments of the Soviet Union. It would put money in our own pockets; it would increase our ability to pay for our expanded defense program.

Hon. HARRY F. BYRD,

Chairman, Finance Committee,

STANDARD OIL Co.,

New York, N. Y., June 27, 1958.

United States Senate, Washington, D. C.

DEAR SENATOR BYRD: The extension of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act now before your committee is of great importance to our country. I should like to express to you and to your committee my strong conviction that the bill as passed by the House should be enacted into law without crippling amendments. The issues have been presented to committee hearings several times. I have, in recent years, set forth for the record my own views and those of my company on the subject. I send you this letter at this time to amplify those views in certain respects by a few points of emphasis, in the hope that my expression will be helpful to the Senate Finance Committee in its consideration of the proposed extension of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act.

On February 18, 1958, my attitude on the matter was put before the House Ways and Means Committee in a letter reading as follows:

"In connection with the hearings before your committee on the proposed renewal of the reciprocal trade agreements program, I should like to take this means of expressing my opinion that this program should be extended and strengthened. It should be extended for a sufficient period of time to engender confidence in our friends and allies of our continuing desire for close and friendly relationships with them.

"It must be abundantly clear to us that the United States cannot live alone in today's world. We need the important stimulus to our domestic economy of a large and expanding export trade. We need, in increasing degree, important raw materials from foreign areas. And, most of all, we need strong friends and allies in many parts of the world to join with us and support us in the defense and preservation of freedom and human rights. The United States cannot fight and win this battle alone. Loans and grants to our friends and allies cannot take the place of affording them the opportunity to grow stronger and closer to us through the development of normal international trade. From a financial standpoint the latter course is more efficient and cheaper for the American taxpayer. From a psychological standpoint this course lends a dignity, a confidence and a friendliness to our international relationships which loans and grants can never achieve.

"We have a national interest in seeing to it that other countries have the opportunity to earn the dollars with which to make payments to our exporters and investors. In connection with trade alone, United States exports including military aid shipments have averaged about $17 billion a year over the last 3 years. This is almost $4 billion a year more than our imports in 1955 and 1956, and in 1957 the export surplus may have been $6 billion. This, of course, is not the entire story in our international payments but it serves to emphasize the fact that if our exports are to continue at high levels and to enjoy normal growth, and if we are not to finance such exports indefinitely through economic aid programs, we must continue on our side to make it possible for our foreign customers also to have growing opportunities to sell to us on a competitive basis and without excessive tariff and trade barriers.

"An important additional fact that should not be overlooked is that it is estimated that 4 to 5 million Americans owe their jobs to American exports. Simply from the standpoint of numbers of individual American citizens affected by our international trade it is undoubtedly true that far fewer than this 4 to 5 million citizens may be in any way affected by our imports since such a large part of our imports are raw materials which are processed domestically.

"It is of course obvious that no one could advocate a reciprocal trade policy which would result in serious damage to our domestic economy or to the weakening of our national security. Clearly, advocacy of reciprocal trade must be based on just the reverse condition-a strengthening of our Nation's security, and the maintenance of a vigorous domestic economy. It is bound to be true that imports always tend to infringe on certain parts and phases of our domestic economy. The basic and important thing to keep always before us is whether the total effect of our reciprocal trade on our total security and economy is beneficial or harmful. This is not to say that the difficult problems sometimes presented by reciprocal trade to certain areas and certain parts of our economy should not receive the most careful and sympathetic consideration; but to wreek or abandon our reciprocal trade program in order to give relief to limited parts of our economy is unthinkable because of the extent to which it would jeopardize our national security.

"These individual problems should be considered objectively in relation to our total welfare and provided for in ways which will have minimal adverse effects on our overall reciprocal trade program and our overall domestic economy. Some readjustments in certain industries may be necessary at this time. Such readjustment periods can be smoothed out by Government help-industry by industry on an emergency basis. It should be borne in mind, however, that many of our domestic problems related to imports are relatively temporary, and may well be alleviated by desirable readjustments in domestic industries and our country's growing need for foreign raw materials. The essential thing is to assure friendly nations both by discussion and by our actions that we intend to meet the ups and downs of growing international trade-together.

"We are convinced that the extension and improvement of our Reciprocal Trade Act is vital to the overall welfare and security of our country."

Since this letter was written I have seen nothing which seems to me to diminish or take away from the force of the arguments there presented. On the contrary, much has happened to impress upon me the urgency of the passage of this bill to cover a 5-year period. Our Nation has become aware of vigorous economic agression by the Soviet Union in important areas which we have heretofore considered comfortably within the orbit of our trade relations. Unrest has developed into open conflict in parts of the world where our relations are delicate. The leadership of the United States economically is being put to the test. The current recession makes even more important the maintenance and improvement of good trade relations with other free countries. Healthy development of international trade is one of the best ways of improving the effectiveness of the free enterprise system. The 5-year extension of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act will make a vital contribution to that healthy development.

I sincerely hope your committee will see fit to support this program.
Respectfully yours,

EUGENE HOLMAN.

VIEWS OF MR. HARVEY PICKER, OF PICKER X-RAY CORP.

On behalf of myself and my company I urge that the Committee on Finance approve H. R. 12591 without amendment, unless these are amendments designed to make this legislation a more effective tool for stimulating expanding world trade. Within the last few years, having traveled through most of the countries of the

world including Russia, I am convinced that the greatest threat of world conquest by the U. S. S. R. lies not so much by military as by economic means.

Any views based on Russian operation to date will badly underestimate its near future capabilities to trade with the rest of the world and provide technical assistance to go therewith. Aside from the few countries of northwestern Europe, who like the United States are bound to democracy through heredity and success, most of the countries of the world are so in need of increased living standards that they will turn to whatever country furnished them the best means for trade. Russia is about to attempt to do this.

Were we to use the Trade Agreements Act to reduce the ability of other countries of the world to trade with us, we would gain a pyrrhic victory. We might temporarily help a few United States companies, but country after country would follow the lead of Nasser and draw closer to the U. S. S. R. to the ultimate great detriment of ourselves.

Were tariffs on X-ray equipment to be reduced it might reduce the profitability of Picker X-Ray. Yet, I am convinced that we in America are clever enough to be able to compete successfully with the other countries of the world. If we are not, then our much vaunted capitalistic system is not as good as we teli the world it is.

I am convinced that Picker X-Ray and the United States are better off freely competing with the other countries of the world than we are having a very large part of the world market ultimately closed to us as China, North Korea, Czechoslovakia, Poland, etc., have been-or as the Arabian countries may well be.

Because I think it is in the enlightened long-range self-interest of our company and country, let me urge favorable action on this bill, preferably eliminating the escape clause to increase the tariff 50 percent above the 1934 level and the provision permitting Congress to override the President's decisions.

RESOLUTION BY THE NORTH ATLANTIC PORTS ASSOCIATION SUPPORTING THE EXTENSION OF THE RECIPROCAL TRADE PROGRAM, ADOPTED ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1957

Whereas the reciprocal trade program has withstood successfully the test of almost a quarter-century's operation in promoting and stimulating international trade throughout the free world to the economic betterment of our own and friendly foreign nations; and

Whereas reciprocal trade among nations is a necessary factor for world peace and security; and

Whereas working within the framework of the reciprocal trade program, the United States has greatly increased the worldwide exchange of goods and services and expanded and protected its own markets abroad for United States products through reciprocal adjustment of tariff and trade barriers, with the result that in 1956 the total value of United States exports and imports exceeded $30 billion, and

Whereas it is an established principle of trade that nations and peoples buying from the United States must also sell to the United States if mutual benefits are to be achieved; and

Whereas the reciprocal trade program has been reenacted 10 times by the Federal Congress since its original passage in 1934 and the law has been gradually limited and weakened by restrictive provisions in recent years; and

Whereas the preservation of this beneficial and productive program is of paramount importance to the further achievement and maintenance of the continuing peace and economic security of our own and the other free nations of the world: Be it therefore

Resolved, That the North Atlantic Ports Association request the Federal Congress to authorize a 10-year renewal of the reciprocal trade program beyond June 30, 1958, and register its strong opposition to current efforts to force a retreat by the Federal Government to a tariff program which would seriously restrict foreign markets for United States trade with the consequent undermining of our national economy; be it further

Resolved, That trade, commercial, civic, economic, and cultural interests be urged to join in this effort to save and extend the reciprocal trade program, and thus preserve the keystone of our foreign-trade policy which has had the support of both great political parties for more than 221⁄2 decades.

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY,
Silver Spring, Md., June 28, 1958.

SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE,

Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C.

(Attention of Elizabeth B. Springer.)

GENTLEMEN: In lieu of an appearance before your committee, the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County would like to go on record in favor of H. R. 12591.

Having just completed a study of world trade in relation to the United States and the various instrumentalities for handling it, our membership overwhelmingly believes that no bill more restrictive than H. R. 12591 would serve the general welfare of our people and the Nation.

If any changes are to be made in this bill, we would like to see them in the direction of freer trade. We particularly urge the retention of the 5-year feature and the final authority of the President in escape-clause cases and emphasize our concern that no crippling amendments be added.

Yours very truly,

GRETCHEN W. CASEY

Mrs. Thomas G. Casey, President.

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY,

Washington, June 30, 1958.

Hon. HARRY F. BYRD,

Chairman, Committee on Finance,

United States Senate, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your letter of June 13, 1958, requesting the views of this Department on H. R. 12591, to extend the authority of the President to enter into trade agreements under section 350 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, and for other purposes.

The proposed legislation would extend for a period of 5 years, that is, until the close of June 30, 1963, the authority of the President to enter into foreign trade agreements under section 350 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.

This Department strongly recommends the enactment of H. R. 12591 in its present form.

The Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there is no objection to the submission of this report to your committee.

Very truly yours,

FRED C. SCRIBNER, Jr., Acting Secretary of the Treasury.

(Whereupon, at 5;45 p. m., the committee adjourned to reconvene

at 10 a. m. Tuesday, June 24, 1958.)

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