Evening star., 1940-06-23
u. 5. Seeking 10 Weld
New World Nations
Into Economic Bloc
Cartel Plan to Bur Nuzis
Would Mean Dropping
Reciprocal Trade Pocts
BY BLAIR BOLLES.

Inc UNlCcO states yesterday WcIll
ahead with swift preparations for
welding the New World nations into
an economic United States Of all
the Americas to fight commercial
war against Hitler's projected Euro
pean union built on totalitarian
lines.
State Department officials expert
in hemisphere affairs are laying
the groundwork Of negotiation with
the other 20 Western Hemisphere
republics to fashion this union at
the coming emergency conference
of American foreign ministers at
Havana.
The handspring of the proposed
American economic union is the
trading cartel urged by President
Roosevelt. Through corporation
1t would provide for purchase in the
United States of the American re-
publics export products normally
ticketed for Europe's markets. The
corporation would sell these prod
ucts abroad, exacting the best bar
gain possible from the European
countries in the Hitler totalitarian
union scheme.
1t is expected that since the cor
poration would hold monopoly Of
all American goods, 1t could get good
prices. The purpose of this move
is to prevent establishment of a
totalitarian economic hold on Latin
America that might follow direct
dealing between that area and a
Germanicized Europe.
Means Dropping Trade Pacts.
Many stumbling blocks stood to-
day in the way of this cartels estab-
lshment. Among them are possible
failure of Latin American countries
to cooperate and the question OF
how to cope with the problem OF
shipping so much material from
Latin America to the United States.
Apparently it means the abandon
ment for the time being of the re-
ciprocal most-favored-na trade
agreements with Latin American
nations.
The cartel proposal is frankly q
unilateral idea, aimed at the mill
tary and political defense of the
United States through economic
protection of our southern neigh
bors, whom geography makes the
easiest roads into the U. S. A. for
an unfriendly power.
The bait for the American re-
publics in the scheme is the as
surance of markets for their prod
ucts. Almost all the nations are ag-
ricultural or mining States, de-
pendent for their wealth for the
most part on some single crop or
raw commodity. For decade Ger
many has been fighting for South
American markets Germany deals
by barter and with the aski-mark
system, which forces the other
country in the deal to buy more
and more from Germany and sell
more and more to Germany.
Bitter Economic Warfare.
The administration fears that no
South American country could long
escape the totalitarian political
brush If it were. selling not only to
totalitarian Germany but to a to-
talitarian France, Belgium, Holland,
Denmark, to Scandinavian and Bal
kan countries all operated accord
ing to the Nazi schemes.
Since Hitler came into power the
United States and Germany have
waged q bitter economic warfare
for supremacy in South American
markets. For the most part the
United States has won. Nobody
here believes, however, that the
United States could protect that
victory by most-favored-nation re-
ciprocal trade methods if all of
Europe west of Russia is to be run
on the German model.
The war and the Allied blockade
have practically put halt to Ger
man trade with South America.
This is another reason why the
Latin republics might be eager to
accept the cartel system. The war
has given the United States great
er command of South American ex-
port markets than before. Peru, for
instance, has increased her sales to
us of sugar, cotton and wool dur
ing the first four months of 1910.
Chief Importer From Eight.
In the last peacetime year, 1898,
the United States was the chief i'm
porter from 13 of the 20 Latin
American republics. The United
States took more than so per cent
of the exports in value from of
these 13, Colombia, Cuba, Ell Saliva
dor, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico,
Nicaragua and Panama. The other
five for whom the United States is
principal buyer are Brazil, Costa
Rica, Ecuador, Haiti and Peru.
That leaves Argentina, the Do
minican Republic, Bolivia, Chile,
Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Argentinas principal pre-war mar
kets were England and Germany,
the Dominican Republics was Eng
land, Chile's was England, Para
guay's were Argentina, Germany
and England; Venezuela's was Gu
racao, Bolivia's was England and
Uruguay's we're Great Britain, Ger
many, Argentina, France and Italy.
The problem countries in the
cartel scheme are those on whose
lists the United States stands Sec
ond or lower as chief purchaser.
Argentina Greatest Problem.
Argentina presents the greatest
problem in the cartel scheme. This
is country chiefly agricultural
growing farm goods competitively
with the United States. The eight
most important exports in 1887
and 1888 from Argentina were
wheat, linseed, corn, chilled beef
unwashed wool, salted cattle hides
ouebracho extract and chilled and
frozen mutton. Exports from Ar
gentina in 1898 were worth 1,460,-
$4,000 pesos, or about $5o,00o 900
The United Kingdom took 3l.8 pei
cent, Germany, lis per cent; the
United States, 81 per cent; Bel
gium, 6.S per cent; the Netherlands
81 per cent; France, 53 per cent;