Evening star., 1953-08-19
Russia Seeks More
Trade With West
For Political Gains
BY the Associated Press

LONDON, Aug. 19.-Soviet
Russia has launched campaign
to boost trade with the West
with political overtones.
A series of trade pacts and
special deals involving nearly
$500 million recently have been
signed with such countries as
Britain, France, Argentina,
Greece, Egypt. Denmark, Hol-
land and Norway.
Negotiations for others are
underway, according to inform
ants here.
While the total value of the
trade involved is not large. it
has been enough to convince
allied officials of several trends
in Soviet trading policy which
they deem significant.
Reds Offer Strategic Metals.
Among them:
Russia for the first time in
years has begun to buy and sell
some consumer goods - for
example, buying foodstuffs and
textiles and selling automobiles
The Soviet also has offered
western nations supplies of such
strategic materials as platinum,
manganese, chrome, machinery.
steel, petroleum, agricultural and
oil-drilling equipment.
The Russian policy appears to
be seeking out the depressed Sec
tionS of Western industry by buy
ing goods in surplus production.
Moscow has bought textiles from
Britain, ships from Norway. cot
ton from Egypt in return for
matches, automobiles, wheat.
Political factors seem to inf1u-
ence the manner and direction
of RuSsia'S trade bids, with a
large amount of business activity
centered in lands where Soviet |
propaganda has been playing up
what it describes as differences
between American and European |
policies.
Russia Wants 40 British Ships. |
Allied informantS claimed one
aim of the Russians, seems to
be to break down the allied en-
barge on the export of strategic
or war-potential goods to Com
munist nations. Britain alone,
for instance, has frozen approx
mately 5000 million worth of !
Russian orders for capital goods |
machinery, equipment, ma
chine tools and the Ike-which !
have come under security control. |
Orders were placed years ago,
before the bans were imposed.
The Soviet also has put in bids |
with British shipyards for at least |
40 ships-trawlers, tankers and |
fishing vessels at an estimated
cost of $50 million. The Rus
sian request is being studied by
the British government to see
whether is can be safely met un-
der the strategic embargo. Only
tankers are specifically banned
as exports to the Communist
orbit.
Nevertheless, the British seem
to recognize even trawlers can be
used as minesweepers in time of
war and cargo ships can be
adapted for naval use.
Want Red China's Trade.
Despite strategic considerations
the British government is under
some pressure from some busi-
ness interests to relax the en-
bargoeS on goods to east Europe,
the Soviet Union and Red China.
The revived German and
Japanese competition in tradi-
tional British markets, has led
some manufacturers to seek more
freedom to exploit new fields. |
Representatives of some of the
country's biggest and best-known
firms recently made an unofficial !
mission to Peiping to investigate
prospects of doing business with |
Red China when the allied en-
barge is relaxed.
Whatever RuSsia's real motives
In boosting trade with the West, |
there is little doubt here that |
British and West European
businessmen are interested. The |
Federation of British Industries, |
which speaks for organized in
dustry in this country, recently |
set I'D a new committee to pro- |