American-Soviet Trade

Report Outline
Red Trade Overtures to United States
Deterrents to the Expansion of Trade
Outlook for American-Soviet Commerce

Red Trade Overtures to United States

Trade between the United States and the Soviet Union, of inconsequential dimensions during the past decade, may assume increased importance as a result of Premier Khrushchev's coming visit to this country and President Eisenhower's later visit to Russia. Soviet leaders for more than a year have been trying to convince Americans that expansion of trade would serve the interests of the two great powers. Khrushchev, keynoting the campaign in a letter to the President dated June 2, 1958, asserted that a large-scale interchange of goods would “be of great mutual benefit to both countries” and would “further the cause of world peace.” The Soviet premier quoted the late Secretary of State Cordell Hull to the effect that “Commerce and association may be the antidote for war.”

Secretary of Commerce Frederick H. Mueller voiced the position which the Eisenhower administration has taken since Khrushchev's initial overture when he said, Aug. 7, that he favored expansion of commerce with Russia but only on mutually advantageous terms. “There is plenty of scope for increased trade” right now, Mueller said. “If Moscow truly seeks increased trade with us—as its spokesmen currently are saying—it can sell us more of what we really want and buy more of what we offer, provided, however, such commerce is not contrary to United States foreign policy and is not detrimental to our national security.”

Small Volume of Present Trade Exchange

The United States in 1943 imported $87 million worth of goods from Russia and exported $28 million worth to Russia. Since that year, when the cold war began in earnest, the volume of trade has been far smaller—so small, in fact, that one or two big shipments often have been enough to double the import or export total from one month to another. Such month-to-month variations have made it fruitless to look for up-or-down trends in the trade over any short term.