Evening star., 1953-05-17
EQst-West Trade !
What Mr.. Dulles Told Mr.. Mccarthy
Nay Hold Key to Whole Problem
By Ann CottreII Free

ttISI TISS
purportedly, instructed her ships
not to trade with Red China. But
statistics and Labor Party Leader
Clement Attlee tell another story.
$500 Million Trode
Last year British trade amounted
to about $21 million worth. OF this
$l3 million worth were British ex-
ports, much of it ammonium sui.
phate and sodium compounds. She
received from China nearly So mill
lion worth of goods, mostly dried
eggs. (The United States in 1852
imported $27 million worth of goods,
such as tung oil, from ChinaD Over
all trade of the free world with Red
China last year amounted to about
5000 million worth-$355 million go-
ing in and $275 million coming out.
Just how defensible is the British
position on continued Red China
trade remains to be seen. Mr..
Attlee has already given his view:
I'VE are constantly pressed" he
said in Commons last week, mot
to trade with China, even in goods
which are very remotely connected
with the war effort"
Everything being relative, Britain
may be on flrmer ground in Defend
ing her trade with China than of
that with Russia. Last year she
shipped $92 million worth of rubber
to the Soviet Union. Malay shipped
another 50 million worth. Rubber
is not on the Battle Act strategic
list due to a variety of interna-
tional pressures. Congressman Bat
tie thinks it should be on the list
just as he would like to see an
embargo on the precision surveying
instruments now being shipped
from West Germany to Red China
via the Trans-Siberian Railway.
If the policy of tightening up is
followed. it would be possible to
avoid the uproar and diSunity
among allies that will follow fiat
bans. 1t will be argued that an en-
bargo-under threats-of British
trade with China raises the follow.
ing questions:
. Will this slam the door on in
telligence information from Gilman
. Will the United States be able
to prevent United States-aided ma
tions such as Pakistan and India
from selling to China? If so, will
we buy their wares instead?
The United States bought last
week large cargo of Romanian jet
fuel oil from Finnish tanker bound
for Red China. This could be just
the first of such "preclusive buying
operations" if ban on non-stra-
tegic goods is ordered.
If other nations are unwilling to
cooperate on non-strategic trade
with China, they have less excuse
when it comes to Tightening up
obvious loopholes Of East-West
trade in general.
Neglected LoophoIes
Among the loopholes that most
need Tightening are:
. British rubber to Russia and
1c1Lld11 AAloUk uLIAC11US w NAlAIld.
. The use of free ports by such
nations as Chile in sending copper
to Czechoslovakia. The cargo 10
transferred without inspection in
such ports as Rotterdam, barge
floated down the Rhine through
Switzerland and shipped by rail to
Prague. Who is to stop it? Nobody.
. The practice of ships flying
Western flags shutting cargoes be-
tween Iron Curtain ports.
There has always been in the
public mind some vagueness on who
is the proper authority for handling
this Tightening up. And no wonder.
Much of the authority stems from
a secret committee Of NATO coun-
tries, West Germany and Japan
meeting daily in Paris. But this
committee could be prodded to move
a little faster if it received a more
clear-cut policy announcement out
of Washington.