US Presidency
1962

Our businessmen must be export conscious and export competitive. Our tax policies must spur modernization of our plants -our wage and price gains must be consistent with productivity to hold the line on prices -our export credit and promotion campaigns for American industries must continue to expand. But the greatest challenge of all is posed by the growth of the European Common Market. Assuming the accession of the United Kingdom, there will arise across the Atlantic a trading partner behind a single external tariff similar to ours with an economy which nearly equals our own. Will we in this country adapt our thinking to these new prospects and patterns -or will we wait until events have passed us by? This is the year to decide. The Reciprocal Trade Act is expiring. We need a new law- a wholly new approach- a bold new instrument of American trade policy. Our decision could well affect the unity of the West, the course of the Cold War, and the economic growth of our Nation for a generation to come.