Call for Free Trade

Free trade is solemnly revered in theory but largely ignored in practice throughout the world. In recent years commerce between nations has become increasingly burdened with restrictions as governments everywhere have sought to protect their industries from foreign competition.

To brake the drive toward ever greater protection, the Geneva-based General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade last week issued a long-awaited study on ways to help lift trade barriers. The 60-page report was put together by a group of seven public and private officials who included Democratic Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey and Pehr Gyllenhammar, chairman of Volvo. If global commerce were allowed to flow freely, they argue, the world as a whole could regain the vigor that it showed from 1950 to 1973, an era the report describes as "the most dynamic single generation of widespread growth in human history."

The GATT study sets out a 15-point program for "specific, immediate action." Among the recommendations: fairer agricultural trade rules, reduced government subsidies to industries and fewer restrictions on imports of textiles and clothing. In addition, the report urges the start of a new series of world-trade talks. "We have tried to be realistic," said Fritz Leutwiler, former president of the Bank for International Settlements and chairman of the group. "We realize that 100% free trade will remain science fiction forever, but we think heads of government should not be paying lip service to free trade while building protectionism."

The GATT document was greeted by U.S. officials who have been pressuring Western Europe and Japan to ease restrictions on American products and services. "I welcome wholeheartedly the tone and tenor of this report," said U.S. Trade Representative William Brock. He called the recommendations "just the sort of tonic necessary to reinvigorate the global trading system, which we have worked so hard to foster since World War II."