Trade with the Communists

Report Outline
Growing Interest in East-West Trade
Policy of Curbing Exports to Red Bloc
Changes in Trade Relations Since War

Growing Interest in East-West Trade

Big Sales of Western Wheat to Communists

Consent of the administration to sale of possibly $250 million worth of surplus wheat to the Soviet Union, expected shortly though not yet officially announced, may well foreshadow early review of the whole system of controls now governing American trade with Communist countries. The possibility of modifying the restrictions, which have held commercial interchanges with the Soviet Union and its satellites to minimal amounts, has received growing attention since signature of the limited test-ban treaty began to ease cold war tensions. Modification became a matter of immediate interest in mid-September when Canada announced that it had agreed to sell $500 million worth of wheat to the Russians.

The Canadian-Russian transaction, largest ever negotiated for shipments of wheat within the space of one year, came on the heels of a big Canadian wheat sale to Communist China in August. Moreover, British trade delegations traveled to Moscow and Peking in September in search of additional business. All these negotiations with the Communists by two of this country's closest economic and political partners pointed up the profound differences of policy between them and the United States on East-West trade.

Proposals to Reappraise U.S. Export Policies

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Hubert H. Humphrey (D Minn.) asserted three days after the Canadian-Soviet deal was announced that export policies limiting trade with the Communists were “not in the best interests of the country.” Various other members of Congress, including some long believed to be opposed to commercial contacts with Communist countries, joined Humphrey in calling for a new look at American export policies.