The Washington times., 1937-12-03
U, S,-ARGENTINA
TRADE PACT is
NOW PROPOSED
Move to Raise Protest
From CattIemen
By EARL GOODWIN

The State Department having
drawn a deep breath and plunged
into the icy waters Of proposed
trade agreement with Great Brit
ain is now bold enough to suggest
(to itself) that it would be good
thing to make a give-and-take
agreement with Argentina.
All this would do would be to
start an organized march of Amer
ican cattle raiSers, beef professors,
ham producers on Washington,
because about all Argentina wants
out of the U. S. A. is chance to
flood this well-beefed country with
more of the same product from the
long-grass regions of Argentina
and Patagonia.
DEAF TO HULL
State Department trade experts
though are actually making pala-
vering gestures toward Argentina
with its great herds of longhorns.
This has an ominous sound for
cattle and hog folks, but until this
country treats Argentina with a
little more consideration with re-
Spect to the dread foot-and-mouth
disease. the Argentinian govern
ment will not even see the gestures
or hear the pleas of Secretary Hull
for a trade agreement.
What happened was that some
where in Patagonia the cattle are
afflicted with foot-and-mouth dis
ease. This country clamped down
a rigid embargo on the importa.
ton of Argentinian cattle and
beef which those people resent, be-
cause they say it would be just as
sane to prohibit oranges from Flor.
ida because something is the mat
ter with the lemons Of Los Angeles,
or the prunes of oregon.
HOW 1T WORKS
It would be o. K. possibly to
stop the importation of cattle or
beef from the section where the
disease is known to rage, but to
put the ban on all Argentine cat
tie is just too much for Argentina
to bear.
The State Department is trying
to work out solution through the
Senate, but for two years there
hasn't been movement in that
direction. The cattle politicians
see to that.
Meantime trade agreement ne
gotiationS with the United King
dom go droning on and on and on;
the State Department has asked
all business men to submit lists of
all items they want considered
all items that may be the basis of
argument.
NEW BRITISH PACT
These lists may come into the
State Department until December
Is and it will be two months or so
after that before hearings on these
items will start. Meantime it is
expected that a delegation of Eng
lish business men and officials will
be here in Washington in the early
days Of next month.
Business men are wondering
what the result of the United
Kingdom agreement will be. The
proposed range of goods to be
slashed as to tariff is small but
important. For instance, there
are British woolens and tweeds,
British pottery, china, fabricated
steel. British liquor and tobacco
are being watched. On some of
these fancy goods, used here now
only by the luxurious, duties range
as high as 95 per cent.
ABOUT CZECH SHOES
Meantime, there is a duel on
over Czechoslovakian shoes. The
shoe industry of America is up in
arms against the Czechoslovakian
idea that this country reduce its
tariff on cheap shoes, because
that nation makes cheap brogans
for work wear in vast quantities
and at lower prices than this
country.
However, State Department Off
cialS believe that unless there is a
liberal cut on Czech shoes, there
will be no trade treaty with that
country.