WORLD TRADE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21922, 17 January 1946, Page 3

WORLD TRADE

15 STATES TO MEET PRELIMINARY DEBATE U.S. TO SPEED UP PACTS (10 a.m.) WASHINGTON, Jan. IG. The State Department announced that all 15 invited countries, except Russia, will attend a preliminary conference on international trade this summer in Europe. The New York Times correspondent says it is learned that the United States has adopted a new speed-up system whereby it will negotiate numerous trade agreements simultaneously instead of negotiating, as in the past', with one country at a time on a bilateral basis. Tiie European conference will perform the dual functions of preparing for the international trade conference in Washington this autumn and enabling the United States to negotiate reciprocal trade agreements with the conferring nations, which include Australia and New Zealand. The United States is prepared to reduce tariff’s as much as 50 per cent. Most Government economists regard the successful lowering of tariffs as the crux of the United States international economic programme. They pointed out that numerous debtor nations will be unable to repay the United States unless America buys their goods to provide them with the dollars necessary for payment. _