Archive Report
Archive Report
One of the most significant developments in connection with the expansion of American foreign trade during the first postwar decade was the increasing export of American industry itself—through the establishment of branch plants in foreign countries by American manufacturing corporations. The attention of Congress was first attracted to the branch-plant movement during consideration of the Hawley-Smoot tariff in 1929. In response to a Senate resolution calling for the “essential facts” with regard to the movement, the Department of Commerce submitted a report, January 20, 1931, which set out the main factors involved in the migration of American industry to foreign lands, but failed to disclose the identity of the corporations which had established branch plants abroad or the volume of their foreign production. A ...