"The Revolutionary Force"

" The Revolutionary Force"

To a swelling chorus of businessmen demanding a reduction in U.S. tariffs the voice of Henry Ford II was added this week. The U.S., said Ford Motor Co.'s boss in a speech scheduled before the Inland Daily Press Association, "can and should step forth boldly and lead the free world toward freer trade" by elimination of all tariffs and other restrictions. In turn, "if foreign countries want American private capital, it's fair to ask that they act in a way which will encourage the American investor" by "guarantees against expropriation of property and the elimination of inequitable double taxation . . .

"We businessmen constantly applaud competition and private enterprise, and damn socialism and planned economies. We accuse our foreign neighbors of lacking the kind of spirit which has made American industry great. We implore them to follow our example and get off our backs. So I just say, let's practice what we preach, where it will do us and our allies some real good. Let's give our friends a fair crack at the American market . . . I believe we ought to get rid of the 10% tariff on automobiles* at once..

"We could easily absorb another five or six billion dollars' worth of goods from abroad each year . . . When we consider . . . the great [production] edge we have on the rest of the world, it just isn't sensible--and courageous--to shake with fear at the thought that we might run into a little competition . . . One sure result of free trade with a prosperous free world is a greatly expanded market for the goods which American industry wants to sell . . ."

As steps toward this trade, the U.S. should: 1) write a new law to eliminate all tariffs as quickly as possible, 2) abandon the "Buy American Act" and quota system which "is contrary to every principle of free enterprise" because it permits only a fixed quantity of goods to enter the country, and 3) enact a workable law to simplify customs procedures.

Said Ford: "I believe this trade program can and should be sold on the basis of the practical self-interest it represents. Rightly or wrongly, the American people and most foreign peoples feel that American business will be a more powerful force in the councils of the new Administration. Rightly or wrongly, the Republican Party and industry are associated . . . with high tariffs and isolationism.

"I think private enterprise must make a head-on assault on these problems, based on the managerial know-how and the spirit of venture which is the soul of our capitalist economy.

"After all, what is needed more than American dollars and American goods in the world today is American business know-how. And by 'know-how' I do not mean just the tricks and techniques of mass production. I mean our driving belief that no problem is insurmountable, and that nothing is being done as well as it could be done. This is the one truly revolutionary force in the world today."

* Three months ago, the Detroit board of commerce, of which Ford and other automakers are members, also came out with a proposal to scrap all tariffs, said that free trade is "inevitable" (TIME, Nov. 17).

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