The Case for Freedom

A few weeks ago, Washington dopesters figured that President Eisenhower had almost no chance to push through a lengthy extension of the tariff-easing Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act. But last week the odds were swinging in favor of a three-year extension, without crippling amendments. Congressmen who checked with the folks at home found public sentiment mounting for a lengthy extension. Two U.S. Congressmen and a Senator who took polls of their home districts--Pittsburgh, Omaha and the State of Iowa--found that their constituents favor a five-year extension of reciprocal trade by majorities of 52% to 72%. At the same time, one of the strongest statements in favor of extending reciprocal trade came from the A.F.L.-C.I.O. Noting that 4,500,000 U.S. workers depend on foreign trade for their jobs, the union's monthly Economic Review said:

"America is at a crossroads in its tariff and trade policy. The choice is clear. If we drastically reduce our imports, inevitably our export markets will wither away. Millions of workers whose jobs depend on foreign trade will face unemployment. If we pursue a restrictionist policy, our trading partners may well be faced with the unhappy compulsion of stepping up trade with the Soviet Union and its satellites. Thus, by restricting trade, we might not only stifle our own economy and the economies of our Free World allies, but we would also strengthen the economic and political power of our Soviet foes.

"The other alternative is for the U.S. to maintain its leadership in the continuing effort to reduce the barriers to trade among the nations of the Free World. Those benefits are real, and they are important. They are more than the foreign products we need and want for our comfort and economic welfare. They are more than markets abroad for the products of our factories and farms. Expanding international trade promotes the best interest of our own country and advances the welfare and security of the free nations of the world. This is the most important benefit of international trade, a benefit in which all free peoples can share."

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