Reciprocity

Canada this year is spending $300 million in the U.S. for defense equipment. The U.S. has been planning to buy less than $100 million worth of military supplies from Canada. Though Defense Minister Brooke Claxton recently said that "no two countries in the world have closer arrangements for their common defense," the unbalanced trade in military items has long been a thorny issue to officials in dollar-short Canada.

Chief stymie to reciprocity has been the U.S. "Buy American" Act of 1933, which bars purchase abroad of any military materiel that can be procured at home. Under a loophole in the act, permitting "exceptions" in the nation's best interest, Washington early in 1950 authorized the spending of $25 million a year in Canada. After the Korean War broke out, the figure was boosted to $100 million. Last week the Defense Department raised the ceiling to $300 million.

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