Monday, Mar. 11, 1946
$7 Billion--But No More
Fred Vinson told the world last week exactly how the U.S. Treasury Department stands on foreign loans. In his Kentucky accent (which makes "barrers" out of "borrowers") the Secretary of the Treasury reviewed a program which will make the U.S. a creditor nation to the tune of $7 billion--but no more.
The fact that the U.S. is going to make large-scale loans was nothing new. The U.S. committed itself long ago to the theory that one way to peace is the way of international trade--"free from warring economic blocs and . . . barriers." That was the theory behind the International Bank established by the Bretton Woods agreements. Until the Bank can get going, the U.S. alone plans to underwrite that theory, in a limited way.
What was new was the $7 billion limit.
The $7 billion included the $3,750,000,000 already spoken for by the British, which Congress may or may not approve and which is "a special case," not to be considered "a precedent for a loan to any other country." Other countries will apply to the Export-Import Bank, which, if Congress accepts Vinson's program, will have some $3 billion to dish out.
Who is going to get it? Russia applied for $1 billion last August. No action has yet been taken--the State Department explained last week that the application had apparently been lost in the files and was only recently "discovered." France is reported to want about $2 1/2 billion. China wants help. So do a lot of other nations.
The $7 billion will not go very far in a hungry, bankrupt world. The Vinson ceiling meant that the Administration had modified its theory--possibly to get it past a doubtful Congress.
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