Time to Go Home

Like men who came to dinner and wouldn't go away, foreign purchasing missions have long since outstayed their welcome in the U.S. Last week the Export-Import Bank asked them to go home.

In its first semiannual report to Congress, the Export-Import Bank said that foreign trade should be returned to private channels as rapidly as possible. It feared that continued buying by foreign missions might lead to their permanent establishment in the U.S. This would enable foreign governments to 1) use their mass purchasing power to by-pass ordinary trade channels, 2) squeeze U.S. brand names out of foreign markets. In effect, the U.S. hope of free trade would be smothered by the state traders.

The Federal Government tried to get rid of the missions last November by refusing to act as a procurement agency. But the missions simply bought in the open market. Since V-J day, only three small missions, out of a total of some 115, have gone home. And as the British Government tightened its grip on foreign trade, there were few signs that any other governments were going to stop centralized purchasing. U.S. foreign traders thought they knew what the U.S. should do. The Export-Import Bank, said they, should make no loans unless foreign trade is returned to private hands.

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