Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-11-02
Text of Hull Trode.T


National Foreign Trade ConDen-
ton in NeD York last night fol-
lo,DS:
As the world relaxes from the ten
sion Of last September, when the
peace of one of its most important
regions hung in perilous balance
many observers in this country not
unnaturally raise the following
question: Has the swift succession OF
events so altered the world situation
that some of the basic policies we
have so far pursued have become no
longer applicable and need to be
discarded or revised in the light of
new developments?
This question frequently relates to
the outlook for the future of our
trade agreements program and the
general prospect of world develop
ments in the field of international
commerce. The problem thus pre-
sented is Of crucial Importance for
the economic well-being of our coun-
try and for our broad national well
fare, and for the promotion of peace,
which is the primary objective of
our foreign policy.
For upward of four years, our
country has been carrying out q
vigorous and comprehensive pro-
gram Of policy and action in the
sphere of international economic re-
lations. The central aim of this
program has been the restoration
and expansion of healthy and mu-
tually beneficial trade among ma
tons.
Origin Of Trade Program.
We embarked upon this program
It time when our country and the
hole world were in the grip of
profound economic diSlocation. The
situation which we faced at the low
point of the depression required
combined program of domestic and
international action. To combat
unemployment: to create conditions
Of security and well-being for our
farmers, workmen and business
men; to enable the entire Nation to
replace a vista of despair with a
prospect Of economic and social ad-
vancement, it was necessary to re-
store solvency and stability in our
financial structure. to introduce
essential reforms in our economic
and social organization, to rehabili-
tate the processes of production and
trade and thus to rebuild the Ma
tons income. Domestic measures,
however necessary and far-reach-
ing, would not have alone sufhced
to accomplish these vital purposes.
They had to be supplemented by a
determined effort to repair the
shaken and all but shattered struc-
ture of international economic re-
lations.
1t was clear that the disruption.
of international commerce had been
as much responsible as any other
single factor for the advent and in
tensity of the great depression. In
the course of generations, national
economies had become geared to
growing volume of interchange of
commodities across national from
tiers. Without expanding interna-
tional trade, the steady rise of living
standards-that outstanding charac-
terlstlc of economic and social prog
ress-would have been impossible.
The sharp decline of international
commerce, which accompanied the
depression, was bound to produce q
profound impairment of economic
organization and activity within ma
tons and to depress living standards
everywhere.
Restoration of Commerce.
There could be no prospect of full
and stable recovery, to be followed
by sustained prosperity, unless mu-
tually beneficial commerce among
nations could be restored to it's great
role as an indispensable instrument
for the promotion of economic well
fare within nations.
The heterogeneous program
was the principal means which we
adopted for attaining this objective.
The program was directed toward
overcoming the two factors which
had been primarily responsible for
the collapse of world commerce. The
first of these was the trend toward
national economic self -sufhciency,
toward so-called autarchy. The Sec
ond was the growing tendency on
the part of nations to enter into
narrow trade pactS, based upon ex-
elusive treatments for the parties to
such arrangements and consequent
discrimination against all other ma
lions. Both of these trends produced
effects disastrous not only to world
trade, but also to the domestic econ
omies of all nations.
The trend toward economic self
Tufflclency involved efforts to de-
Velop. behind unscalable walls of
exaggerated protectionism. the pro-
ductlon of natural or synthetic sub
Stltutes to replace imports from
other regions of the world-no mat
ter at what sacrifices of quality or
cost to the consumers. The dis
criminatory basis of trade served in
evitably to divert the currents of
commerce from the channels of
natural advantage and thus to cause
an irresistible contraction of the
total volume of world trade.
BY placing upon our statute books
the Trade Agreements Act of 1884
and by inaugurating reciprocal trade
agreements negotiations, we an
nounced to the world our willingness
to reverse the policing Of raising ever
higher barriers to trade, which had
been pursued by this country for
some years, with disastrous re-
suits. But our offer to reduce, in
favor OF foreign countries, the ex-
cessive barriers to trade repre-
sented by some of our tariff rates
was made contingent upon the
Willingness of other countries to re-
duce in our favor their tariffs and
other trade barriers.
Fair Play Involved.
In announcing our trade agree
ments program. we also proclaimed
our determination to continue our
firm adherence to the practice of