Evening star., 1950-01-01
New Bid by kremIin
To Draw West Reich
Into Orbit Reported
BY the Asseeiotsd Press

FRANKFURT, Germany, Dec.
Sl.-A new bid by the Kremlin to
draw West Germany into the So
Wet orbit was reported today.
Allied and German sources said
Communist commercial agents are
slowly developing a campaign to
induce the West German republic
to trade with the East, instead of
the West.
The Communists also want to
get critical war potential goods
now barred from Eastern Europe
by the West, the informants said.
Il West Germany became Is per
cent dependent on the East indus
trially, German officials believe
Russia could turn the screws and
force West Germany into the
Soviet political camp.
Allied officials describe the new
move as economic war" against
the European Recovery Program
inside Germany.
Illegal Shipments Sought.
Commercial and propaganda
agents operating undercover in the
Ruhr and in the key cities OF the
Western republic are said to have
had some limited success in:
/. Drumming up illegal ship
ments eastward of strategic ma
terials banned from the East. and
2. Talking business-hungry West
German industrialists into the
idea that Western Germany can
not live without trade with East
ern Europe.
West Germany-like other ERP
countries is prohibited from
shipping eastward goods such as
special truck and bus tires, indus
trial lubricating oils, many iron
and steel mill products, electrical
generators and many power
driven machine tools. Hundreds
of other products are restricted in
amount.
But Germans sent out by the
Soviets are operating import
export Arms under false colors in
Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Munich,
Frankfurt and other cities to han
die these products. Allied officials
said.
Secret Trade Undetected.
The buying agents interest Ger
man manufacturers in trade.
Sometimes the critical materials
60 to the Soviet zone of Germany.
Sometimes they go east by trans
shipment through foreign coun-
tries.
Two recent examples are:
A West German steel firm con-
tracted illegally with East Zone
economic authorities to send them |
10000 tons of steel products.
A West Berlin concern ordered
1000 tons of prohibited steel pipe
from Dusseldorf firm. They
were to be shipped on through
Berlin to the Soviets in Austria.
In addition, customs officials re-
port millions of dollars of illegal
trade goes undetected under the
Iron Curtain.
Before the war. the geographic
area which now is Western Ger
many sent Is per cent of its ex-
ports to Eastern Europe. In 1s4s, )?
only, about 4 per cent of West
Germany's exports went to the
east. ..... ....
HOPE for New; Markets.
The Western Allies hope that, !,
under ERP, new markets can be
found for German manufactured
goods to replace Germany's tradi-
tional trade with Eastern Europe
before American aid ends in 1852.
The Kremlin's undercoverI
agents, Allied officials said, realize
this is a difficult project-espe-
cially since Germany's manufac-
tured goods now compete in the
West with those of Britain, France
and Belgium.
West German economic officials
say-and Allied officials agree
that trade in critical ma
terials can be increased further
without danger"
"The danger would come" ex-
planned one German economic Of
fcial, "if West Germany had to
rely on Eastern Europe for more
than rs per cent of her trade.
"The day might come when
Eastern Europe suddenly said it
no longer required our goods for