U.S. Agrees To Ease China Trade Ban

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28258, 22 April 1957, Page 11

U.S. Agrees To Ease China Trade Ban

(Rec. 12.15 a.m.) WASHINGTON, April 21. The United States, bowing to British and Japanese pressure, has agreed to an easing of Allied restrictions on trade with Communist China. At the same time, according to a State Department announcement last night, the United States has proposed tighter controls on trade with the Soviet bloc in Europe. The ban on all United States trade with Communist China will stand.

The State Department said a United States proposal on revising the trade control system had been presented to the embassies of 14 Allied countries in Washington during the last week. Both Britain and Japan have long urged that the United States agree to an increase in Allied trade with the Chinese Communists. Britain particularly has advocated that the embargo on goods to Communist China be reduced to the same level as that applied to the Soviet Union and its European satellites.

The United States proposal constitutes the first' major gain for the British and Japanese demands although the whole matter is still subject to negotiations among the 15 countries participating in the system. The 15 are all the N.A.T.O. countries except Iceland and plus Japan.

The State Department announcement showed that the United States proposal made these major points: (1) Some items of trade “for peaceful use” which are embargoed for Communist China would be removed from the control list and placed on the same basis that they have with the European Soviet bloc. The Soviet embargo list is much shorter than the Communist China list.

(2) Some other items now embargoed for Communist China “would continue under embargo and would be added to the European Soviet bloc list,” but under a lesser degree of control. That was interpreted to mean that the sale of these items might be controlled as to quantity.

(3) The present “exceptions procedure” by which the Allied countries sometimes sell embargoed items to Communist China or the Soviet Union in spite of the embargo would be tightened up. Britain has used the exceptions

procedure increasingly in the last year, declaring that the items sold would not increase the Communist war potential. (4) The United States intends to make no change whatever in its own policy of embargoing all trade with Communist China. This was put into effect when Communist China entered the Korean war.