Evening star., 1951-08-19
! Trude Control:
OFT Often Finds 1t
Leeds the Parade
By Quentin Z. Mott

Congress and the State Department
do the proposing In trade relations.
but it is q subordinate agency Of the,
Commerce Department. known aS the
Once Of international Trade. which
does the disposing. Right now OTIS
business is rushing as never before
In its 1O-year history.
As the exchange Of goods-particu.
larly with satellite countries-be-
comes daily q more critical weapon
in the cold war. OFT finds that its
activities directly reflect United States
foreign policy. In fact, as often as
not they foreshadow 1t.
OFT operates sort of guardian ui
goods. a monitor Of materials and
an administrator Of policy, all
wrapped up in one. In dealing with
the big and sensitive business Of ex-
ports, the agency operates like q
faucet to regulate the dow Of inter-
national trade. cutting 1t to b trickle
when the occasion requires and de-
yeloping the volume at other times.
Its permanent obligation IL 10 SEQ
that the United States gets the best
breaks available In the exchange Of
goods with other nations. But to
that essential now has been added
the responsibility Of seeing that no
American-made goods ar materials
which could be used for ininfcal
purposes fall into inimical hands.
And 1t must keep Q sharp eye out
to see that United States resources
are not prodigally disposed to the
detriment Of economy at home: In
performing these multiple tasks, OFT
has the guidance Of an interagency
council which includes representa-
tives Of the Defense, State, Agricul.
ture and Interior Departments.
Business Up 400 Per Cent
In the present situation. the Ma.
tional Production Authority and the
Defense Production Authority also ad.
wise what products and materials
should be controlled. OFT applies
and removes such restrictions as the
council determines. And although II
was geared to handle q pre-Korean
war average Of 5000 export license
applications weekly and, now must
cope with nearly 10000, it can move
fast.
OFT is housed in Temporary Build.
ing IT" at Fourteenth street and
Constitution avenue NV. Under the
pressure OF its stepped-up workload.
employees are on a six-day week and
lights burn at night. The office
has even tried the experiment OF
isolating licensing agents from tele.
phone communication with the pub
lie. to give them more time to handls
the rush Of business.
Under the new system, all calls
so to battery Of special question
answerers. One licensing official.
working three hours at night with
all the phones cut OF. handled more
licenses than he had in two previous
days.
This sort Of speed-up effort has
enabled the office to begin reducing
the great backlog Of work which
has built up in recent months.
OFT didn't feel the impact OF the
Korean war until about two months
later. Controls were applied to sons
materials and the total monthly ap-
plications jumped from 20,29O In July
TO 3l,1O4 in August. BY the end Of
1850, as more items were put on
what is called the positive list. the
applications ran well over $4,000
monthly.
Controlled materials now include
iron and steel. copper and aluminium.
Because q lot Of people want to
export. there is no lowering Of the
barriers erected to prevent the United
States from being sold short on need
ed items. Definite quotas are set for
countries eligible to receive con.
trolled materials and when the ton.
mage reaches the maximum figure.
licensing ceases. Quotas for such
things as tin plate. highly essential
Item Tor Gamers. have already been
allocated for the final quarter Of 1851.
In its watchdog capacity. the ONCE
sometimes gets evidence which tends
to prove that goods shipped to one
country are being transshipped to
iron curtain nations, although not
originally consigned there. It i'm
mediately cracks down on such ship
mentS.
For instance, OFT became con-
cerned with the amount Of auto parts
going to the Philippines. It found out
how many vehicles were registered in
the islands and the age. A quota
sufficient to cover the aging cars and
trucks was set, and shipment above
that figure was stopped. This action
NAV hava arovanfad ya,aair - . y@S
Of old United States surplus vehicles
which fell into the hands of the
Chinese Reds and were long overdue
for overhauling.
The export of used clothing was
permissible until it was found that
used clothing also included used uni
forms. Regulation prevented any oi
! these articles from falling into the
: wrong hands.
Won't Europe to Go Along
There was suspicion about brake
fluid going to countries on the periph-
cry of Red China. Because Of its
constant viscosity under changing
temperatures. 1t was found, brake
fluid could be substituted in the re-
coil mechanism Of big guns. OFT
stopped any excess of brake fluid
from going within reach Of the
enemy
The Office is also working toward
some reciprocal agreement whereby
European countries will use the same
care and consideration in the export
Of critical goods. If the United States
refuses to ship machine tools and
parts to certain countries which
might conceivably use them against
us, and European exporters continue
such traffic, then the prohibitive ac-
ton is nullified. OFT wants q gen-