Evening star., 1950-04-10
Imports and the Marshall Plan

In setting up special new division to pro-
mote an increase of American imports from
European countries participating in the Marshall
Plan the Economic Cooperation Administration
has taken one of the steps that must be taken if
the so-called dollar gap is to be closed-or at
least narrowed down to manageable proportions
by the time our present aid comes to its
scheduled end in 1852.
This development is in line with the Presi-
dents recent move naming outgoing Army Secre-
tary Gordon Gray to coordinate the drafting of
bipartisan program designed to enable the ECA
countries to earn their own way without the
Marshall Plan. Since its inception two years ago,
that plan, by means Of direct grants, has sup
piled third or more of the dollars needed by
the participants to finance their imports of the
goods and services they must have from us.
With such aid slated to be cut off in 1852, the
great problem now is to work out measures that
will meanwhile put Western Europe on a self
supporting pay-as-you-go basis-that is to say,
in position where it will be capable, without
receiving handouts from us, of acquiring the ex-
change it has to have if it is to put cash on the
barrelhead for all the things 1t must order from
us to maintain healthy economy.
Part of the solution to this problem calls for
action by the ECA countries to promote things
like their own economic integration and to in
tourism. 1t also calls for stepped-up private
American investment in overseas enterprises
But what it requires most Of all is program
under which the nations cooperating in the
Marshall Plan will be able to cut down on their
imports from us while increasing their exports
to us, so that they will have enough dollars
without getting them from us as grants or gifts
to pay for American goods and services that are
indispensable to them In other words, what is
needed is two-way trade at level that will per-
nit them to support themselves without placing
burden on the taxpayers of the United States
There is nothing easy about this of course
AS ECA Administrator Paul G. Hoffman has just
written to Senator Smith of New Jersey, there
is no appeal, as far as Americans are concerned,
in program obliging us to sell less and buy
more from Europe. But the simple fact is that 'if
we do not sell less and buy more we must either
continue our aid or see the European economy
placed in grave danger, which, in turn, would
seriously endanger our own prosperity and Sc
curity." Accordingly, we have got to reconcile
ourselves to the idea. For his own part Mr.
Holman holds that increased competitive i'm
ports from the ECA countries would be utterly
insignificant" in terms of hurting our own do
mestic business and thus throwing people out of
work. Such imports, he estimates would amount
to only about one-third of per cent of our total
output and could not possibly do us any real
injury.
Mr. Hoffman's view is thoroughly sound
one. Here and there few of our businesses
might run into some difficulties as result of
increased imports but those difficulties
ing they really materialze-must be measured
in relation to the overall gain accruing to
America, and to the Western world as whole
from situation in which our friends in Europe
would be able by 1852, to pay their own way in
trade with us. Certainly, by just such measures
as the one now being launched by the ECA, there
must be action to that end. Otherwise the in
ternatlonal dollar shortage is likely to plague
us for long time to come.