Evening star., 1953-05-17

Oy tAUU ~
A mystery letter may shed some
light on-if not hold the key to
the controversial East-West trade
puzzle.
Before leaving for his Middle East
tour week ago, Secretary of State
Dulles dropped letter in the mail
to Senator Mccarthy of Wisconsin.
Just why Senator Mccarthy has
kept secret the contents is as much
Of mystery as the contents them
selves. In it, Secretary Dulles-at
McCarthy'S reQueSt-SuppoSedly has
set forth United States policy on
allied trade with the Soviet bloc,
especially China.
One big question about the letter
is whether Mr.. Dulles backstops his
acting Assistant Secretary of State,
John M. Leddy. (About 10 days ago,
Mr.. Leddy told the Senate Perma-
nent Investigating subcommittee
that this Government does not favor
a fiat ban on all allied trade with
China. Senator Mccarthy wouldn't
accept this and asked for Mr.. Dulles
view) The alternative question is
whether the Secretary goes along
with Senator Mccarthy in urging
an -the-board prohibition of
all allied trade with Red China. In
short, does the letter give Mr.. Dulles
view on allied trade in general with
Iron Curtain countries?
Picture Out of Focus
The trouble now is that the whole
picture of non-strategic East-West
trade is sadly out of focus. Such
trade last year amounted to SO
billion and in many cases the free
world received from the Soviet bloc
items of far greater value than what
it sent in. Manganese from Russia
is an example.
A clear United States statement
at this time would be helpful to
1000 merchants from so countries
starting a weeks meeting tomorrow
in Vienna to discuss, among other
things, the dilemma of East-West
trade. This international Chamber
of Commerce meeting will delve
into the question Of markets and
the hows and why's of both United
States and Soviet economic warfare.
Whatever Secretary Dulles said
in the letter-Which Senator Nc
Carthy may unveil during hearings
tomorrow-one thing is fairly GER
tain: East-West trade will be tight
ened up.
Strong Trend on Hill
There was a strong congressional
trend in this direction long before
Senator Mccarthy got into the act.
The method would be the enlarge
ment of the list of strategic goods
on the Battle Acts forbidden list.
This act, authored by Representa-
tive Battle, Democrat, of Alabama,
forbids United States allies from
shipping all arms and munitions
plus selected list of some 800 items
useful to the potential war machine
of any Iron Curtain country. Any
nation receiving United States aid
which is caught breaking this rule
faces withdrawal of assistance. So
far the penalty has not been in
voked.
Senator Mccarthy moved into the
picture just as Mr.. Battle was put
ting pressure on the administration
to tighten up East-West trade loop
holes. On March %, the Alabaman
issued a well-documented report
of an on-the- spot investigation he
undertook in Europe last fall. In
it he recommended how various
legal leaks" could be plugged.
Continuing British trade with
China is one of the things worrying
Battle just as much as Mccarthy.
The United States, Canada, the
Netherlands and Greece have fol-
lowed a United Nations recommen-
dation not to trade with China. Qn-
cidentally, the Greek government
made this decision some weeks be-
fore Senator Mccarthy negotiated
with Greek shipowners0 Britain,