Evening star., 1942-06-09

however, and then the condition
Of Brazil linked to Britain's steel
industry will still continue.
Several Explanations.
Several explanations are ad-
vanced for this postwar setup and
among them are one theory and
one fact which 60 far to clarity
an apparent surrendering of United
States interests in Brazil to Great
Britain. The theory is that in the
vast plans of world reorganization
after the war. there exists already
some quid pro quo for having ia
cilitated the British Brazilian get
together.
The fact Is that in South America
United States heavy steel goods can
not compete in price with Europe
Between 1918 and 1899, United
States heavy steel goods were shut
out by European competition with
hardly an effort. High labor costs
in the United States are the main
reason. The United States steel
products which find a ready market
in South America are speciality, high
quality goods: Window frames. hand
tools, machine tools, automobiles,
instruments.
That bald dollars and cents fact
that the United States cannot COM
pete with European heavy steel pro-
duction is the reason for benevolent
assistance to steel production in
South America.
steel industry has been assisted
financially to make steel In small
electric furnaces using a new Yugo-
slav patent for wood-coke.
More important than the Chilean
example is the $4,000, 900 Export
Import Bank loan to Brazil for the
location of smelter and rolling
mill at Volta Redonda, In the state
Of Rio de Janeiro.
Heavy Steel Product.
In baldest terms, Volta Redonda
looks to furnishing Brazil, possibly
Argentina and probably Bolivia and
Paraguay with heavy steel products.
Brazilian experts consider that
Volta Redonda Is the expression of
United States disinterest in selling
in Brazil low-cost rails, girders and
I-beams and its interest in con-
centrating on high-cost specially
stees of fine alloys. which can be
produced only with highly techni-
cal and complex mass production
methods.
Considering that Brazil is slightly
larger than the United States and
industrially on a level approximat-
ing the United States during the
Civil War. it is going to be a long
time before Brazil is saturated with
steel rails, bridges. houses, Office
buildings. To say nothing Of Bolivia
and Paraguay.
The political angle comes to as
sist the economic angle. just as two
eyes are required to focus properly
on given objective.
The principle is to keep friends
strong. The word friends" in the
international sense means those
countries with which it is profitable
to have relations. There are two
such friends of the United States
involved in the Itabira deal.
First are United States British
Empire relationships after the war
President Roosevelt and Prime Min
lister Churchill defined them very
loosely in the Atlantic charter
Clarence Streit thinks of them in
terms of Union Now" Every edi-
torial writer in English. Spanish,
Portuguese or French has his own
recipe. They all add up to seeing
that such wars as the last World
War and this one shall not happen
again.
One big factor in that relation
ship is to keep Britain strong. And
a big factor in doing that is to re-
move Britain from the wise OF the
European steel cartel and make her