Evening star., 1939-12-03
Trade Pact Benefits
Cited by.Hun in Reply
To Kansas Governor
Letter Carries Forword
Fight Intensifyins as
Congress Session Neors

Records of greatly increased ex-
ports to nations with which the
United States has trade agreements
show the administrations reciprocal
trade policy is doing much Ito pro-
mote the prosperity of the entire
country" Secretary of State Hull
declared in letter made public last
night.
The letter, replying to a protest
by Gov. Payne Rather of Kansas
against concessions on some petro-
leum imports in a new trade agree
ment with Venezuela, carried for
ward the fight for the life of the
reciprocal trade policy that rapidly
is intensifying as a new session Of
Congress approaches.
A bitter congressional battle is ex-
pected over administration efforts
to extend authority to negotiate the
reciprocal agreements which will eX-
pire next June II unless renewed.
Exports Compared.
In his letter to Gov. Rather, Sec
retary Hull cited records compiled
by the Commerce Department COM
pairing American export trade dur
ing 1884 and 1885 with that of 1887
and 1888, and pointed out that the
greater part of the trade agreements
which have been in operation long
enough to produce results became
effective in 1886.
The records show, he said, that
our average annual exports to the II
countries with which agreements
were in operation during most Of
1888 increased by 81 per cent dur
ing 1878 as compared with 1884,
IS, while exports to other countries
increased SO per cent.
An Agriculture Department an
alysis, he added, shows exports Of
farm products to the 16 countries
with which agreements were in ef-
feet before 1888 increased by SIS
per cent during the crop year end
ing June 80, 1888, as compared with
the crop year ending June 80, 1896,
while agricultural exports to non
agreement countries increased only
per cent.
BY helping to restore our former
ly prosperous foreign trade, Mr..
Hull asserted, the reciprocal trade
program is doing much Ito pro-
mote the prosperity of the entire
country and to enhance the demand
at home and abroad for American
products"
How Oil is Restricted.
The oil concessions protested by
Gov. Rather reduced from one
half to ;one-fourth of a cent per
gallon the import tax on crude
from all countries at this reduced
rate may not exceed in any year 5
per cent of the total quantity of
crude petroleum processed in the
United States during the preceding
year.
Secretary Hull pointt out that
the type of crude oil imported from
Venezuela is much heavier than the
average domestic crude, yielding
principally heavy fuel oil and as
phalt. Importation of the low
grade foreign crude oil for such
products tends to conserve the high
grade domestic crudes for produc-
tion of the. more valuable petro-
leum derivatives, he said, and should
supplement-, rather than compete
with, the domestic industry.
He added that valuable conces-
sions for American petroleum ex-
ports have been secured in II of
the reciprocal trade agreements con-
cluded so far. He pointed out that
KanSas-as other States-stood to
benefit directly and indirectly from
other concessions obtained by the
United States in the Venezuelan
and other agreements.
Concessions granted by this coun-
try on one product cannot be ade-
quately considered apart from the
broader aspects of the trade agree
ments program, Mr.. Hull insisted