Montana labor news., 1945-05-24
TRADE AGREEMENTS
ACT MEANS MILLIONS
OF HIGH-WACE JOBS
(By the National Foreign Trade
CounciD



CounciD
Especial to Federated Press
.. s. labor has a vital postwar stake
in the passage Of the Doughton bill CHR
2652) to extend and. broaden the recip-
roeaI trade agreements act, which has
just been reported out by a House com
nittee and is up for a vote. This bill
paves the way for an expansion of our
foreign trade which can help provide
millions of jobs in the high-wage U. S.
export industries.
Designed to promote international
economic cooperation, full employment
and a rising standard of living through
a mutual lowering of trade baries, the
Doughton bill extends the trade agree
ments program and permits reductions
up to 500 in tariff rates in effect Jan.
I, 1945. Thus, it brings up to date our
lI-year-old trade policy and gives US
much-needed bargaining power to get
important concessions for u S. goods in
foreign markets
If the bill is not passed by Conress be-
fore June u, the whole trade agree
ments program will automatically expire
and with it will disappear one of the
foundation stones Of the peace structure
we are trying to create at san Francis
co. Yet the bill is encountering much
opposition in Congress particularly from
Republican "protectionists" who claim
they are seeking to protect" U. S. labor.
Actually, by takin stand against a
sound program for expanding foreign
trade, they are obstructing a measure
which can help provide full employment
and better wages for U. S. workers Ac-
cording to the U. S. Department of Com
merce we can sell, by l948, 81 billion
worth Of goods abroad compared with
the 50 billion We sold in 1888.
However, the Department of Com
merce points out that to do this We must
import in 1948 approximately Sc billion
in GODS compared to the 50 billion i'm
ported in 1888 But this kind of healthy,
two-way trade will be almost impossible
unless we resharpen the trade agree
ments program through the Doughton
bill.
Reaching these postwar trade goals
means a tremendous increase in the jobs
available in our leading industries with
important foreign markets. These in
dustries, as the accompanying table
shows, pay the highest average wages in
the countries, while protected indus
tries tend to pay lower wages.
AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES-l039
Export Industries
Agricultural Implements ......-S29.6l
Automobiles ........................... $3.50
Rubber Tires Observation-Disclosures. $33.56
Machine Tools ............................ 34.25
Domestic Industries
Dyeing, Cleaning ..-......-....-.-.- S2l70
Building Observation-Disclosures. 30.34
Street railway and buses ......... 1918
Printing, Newspapers, and
periodicals Observation-Disclosures. 37.58
Protected Industries
Cotton Goods .........................S14.26
Silk and Rayon ........................ 1878
Pottery Observation-Disclosures. 22.75
Carpets and Rugs ................... 23 25
Buying goods from other countries
also makes jobs for U. S. workers. Many
of these imports are raw and -fabri-
Gated materials which are processed in
U. S. factories. And all imports require
transportation and distribution through
numerous channels before they finally
reach the consumer, thus creating jobs
from the moment they land on our
shores until they are finally sold for use
Thus, every worker has an immediate
and vital stake in urging Congress to
pass the DOughton bill before June r.