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American-made planes in French Naval Air Force.
The British (who coined the "trade.
-Wide World Photo
not aid" slogan) have an average tariff
wall twice as high as ours — in addition to outright embargoes and quotas
on foreign goods which we don't have
at all."
The French — who also claim they
would rather have trade with us than aid
from us — have even higher tariffs than
the British.
In fact, the French for many years
levied high import duties on the goods
thai we were giving them.
SLOGAN OF SWINDLE
"Trade, not aid" has become the slogan of a proposed gigantic international
swindle against the American people.
All over the continent of Europe.
American tax money has built great
factories. We have supplied them with
American equipment and power machinery. We have taught them American
production techniques. In our offshore
procurement program, we have even
given them profitable, guaranteed long-
lerm orders to get them started."
For example, let us say that one of
our foreign allies does not have an air
force strong enough for its own defense'.
Mr. Acheson or Mr. Dulles or Mr. Stas-
sen or somebody flies over there lo teilk
to them about il. They have innumerable
closed-door, high-level conferences.'-
When the American representative
finally comes home, our governmenl
proudly announces another great American diplomatic triumph: our foreign ally
has consented to strengthen its own air
force for its own protection, at our expense.
To gel lhe thing started, we build a
great aircraft plant in their eountrv
give il to them. We equip il with the
latest and best fVmerican machinery, and
teach them the best American production methods. We then place orders with
that plant for the type ami quantity of
military aircraft which our foreign ally
has consented to accept as a gift. When
the planes are produced, they are delivered to our ally, ami the hill is sent
to us.12
That is our offshore procurement pro-
Page 20
gram.
Hut the story does not end there.
The Soviets begin to complain. They
say they are a peace-loving people, and
it hurts their feelings to see our foreign
allies building up their air forces. Now
our allies, for the most part, would far
rather please Russia than cooperate with
us. Consequently, they begin to cut back
on Ihe production of military aircraft
and, with the plant we have given them,
slart producing civilian aircraft. But
when they produce civilian aircraft they
must sell it to someone. And America,
eef course, is the richest market in the
world.
W hat tlie American businessman is
being asked, to do is fantastic. He is
being asked to continue to pay the
highest wages in the world — because
neither lhe law nor the unions will permit him lo lower wages to meet foreign
competition; he must carry a crushing
federal tax load, approximately one-
third of which is drained off to subsi-
elize foreign industries; ami then he is
expected to compete in a free market
with his foreign competitor whom he is
compelled to subsidize.13
Many of America's giant mass production firms — like the Ford Motor Company are, of course, in favor of abol
ishing American tariffs. The reason Is
simple: they are big enough to g°
abroad and build plants in the low-
wage areas of the world. Our foreign
aid programs have helped to subsidize
their foreign markets. They now want
lo reap a double harvest in the Amcri-
e em market hy bringing in, tariff free,
their own foreign-made products.12
The smaller industries, the little businessman, the laborer, ami the farmer in
.America are- the ones who will suffer
by lhe abolition of tariffs.
Consider a European manufacture!
who has a plant built for him will'
Ameiiiiui fiinels and equipped with
American machinery. He pays his effl-
plovees twenty-five cents tin hour. I'1"
American competitor, who has the same
kind of plant anil equipment, pays h|s
employees two dollars an hour, in adne
tion lo paying taxes which go to sub-
sielizi' tin' European manufacturer. If we
let the products of lhal European faC/
tory come into the United Slates tariff'
free, the American planl is obviously
going in he sei undersold in its ow'"
market that il will go out of busines<
ami all of those Americans will be unemployed.14
USED AS POLITICAL WEAPON
The ideal of world-wide free trade ls
beautiful — a Utopian ideal for a 1 "'.
pian world. Hut as long as the nation*1
economy of every nation on earth '
under political control, internatioO*
trade simply cannol be' free. It is used,
by governments, as a political wean"*
without regard to economic law. ,
Consider a recent, well-publicize11
case: President Eisenhower's increasi"-
ihe tariff on foreign watches by so(ne
5(1 per cent in 1954.
The American watchmaking indnstr)
was being destroyed, nol by fair cot"'
petition from foreign producers, hui ''•
an international cartel, under the co"'
trol of foreign governments, with hotf*
offices in Switzerland where wate11
making, the principal national industfJj
is under political control, enjoying le#*
—Wide World Pi"" (
This photo taken in 1944 shows train loaded with weapons, tanks—all made in Anted'
war plants—enroute to the Russians under lend-lease.
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