.

1919, with the exception of a year or two, when some of our people were foolishly buying a lot of foreign bonds, our exports have been financed by our taxpayers. First, there was the money after World War I, supposedly lent to European countries. Then there was a little period when we were buying foreign-government bonds. Then came the purchase of gold. Then came lend-lease. Then came the Marshall plan. Then came "mutual aid." It seems to me that the taxpayers of this country have been financing our export trade.

Now, I want to get this off the necks of the taxpayers of the United States, and it seems to me that perhaps if we could gradually have a little more imports it would help protect the taxpayers of the United States, because everybody is a taxpayer.

Mr. STRACKBEIN. Mr. Kean, as we import more, we must distinguish what these imports consist of.

Mr. KEAN. Right.

Mr. STRACKBEIN. Now, we can import more coffee and bananas and

tea.

Mr. KEAN. That is the ideal that you are talking about.

Mr. STRACKBEIN. Now, there are other products that we can import without directly causing unemployment in this country. But there is a sector of our economy where increased imports will have a direct impact on our own domestic producers. And that is where I say we should exercise caution. We have reduced our duties. We reduced them at a time when we cannot even tell the effects of these reductions. Now, before we go on in that same direction, we had better first find out how far we have already gone and how far we have already exposed ourselves. It may be that we will find that we have already gone too far, as in some instances we have, in my estimation.

Mr. KEAN. What you say about exercising caution and what you have just said in all of your last paragraph, except maybe the last sentence, I agree with thoroughly. We must exercise caution. We cannot put these businesses which are employing a great many people, in which capital has been invested, which have been protected by the tariff, out of business; and we shouldn't.

Mr. STRACKBEIN. May I add just this one further thing? The extension of this bill in its present form might mean further trade agreements in the next year. I don't know just what is contemplated. But what we are concerned about is that the present escape clause, particularly as it has been administered, has not given us the type of remedy that we have got to have in order to preserve our position. If it does turn out, when we go into a buyer's market, that our tariffs have been cut too deeply on a wide front, we can be overwhelmed. Now, by saying "overwhelmed," I don't mean that necessarily a great flood of imports will come in. But when even a small percentage strikes a highly sensitive market, it can start a deflationary force that will be exceedingly difficult to stop. That is what we are talking about, and that is the burden of my statement here.

Mr. COOPER. Mr. Chairman, at the close of the statement of the witness now before the committee, I ask unanimous consent to include in the record certain data and material which I handed the clerk. The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, it will be so included.

(The material referred to is as follows:)

[Reprint from Foreign Commerce Weekly, June 30, 1952]

WHAT EXPORT MARKETS MEAN TO UNITED STATES PRODUCERS

Prepared in the Department of Commerce, by International Economic Analysis Division, OIT

The following tables are intended to answer some of the questions often raised as to the importance of export markets to the United States. Exports of recent years include, beside commercial goods, foodstuffs and other supplies sent to civilian populations through the United States armed forces stationed abroad, shipments under the ECA and Mutual Defense Assistance Programs and other aid and relief shipments whether financed by Government or by private agencies. Shipments to our armed forces abroad for their own use are excluded from export statistics.

Table 3 covers most leading commodities of the export trade although such important exports as textile manufactures, industrial machinery, and agricultural products are not shown as a group. Since selection of items is necessarily influenced by availability of comparable production data, principal individual items rather than broad groups are shown. Items of lesser importance in total export trade which represent a relatively large part of production are also in the table.

For certain agricultural commodities (as noted) export figures include estimates of the more important processed forms. For other crude and semimanufactured goods, no attempt has been made to include their equivalent sent out as finished products. For some commodities, such as iron and steel, the indirect exports in the form of manufactures of machinery, vehicles, containers, etc., may be as important as the direct exports. Or, to take another example, cotton exported in the form of textile fabrics and other manufactured articles, if included with raw cotton exports, would raise considerably the ratio of exports to cotton production.

The commodities shown in Table 3 represented approximately 60 percent of total exports in 1951.

TABLE 1.-United States production of movable goods and the proportion exported, 1937, 1939, and 1947-51

1 Cash receipts from crops and livestock and products, and value of home consumption as reported by Department of Agriculture.

Value added by manufacture; data as reported by the Bureau of the Census in 1937, 1939, and 1947; estimates for other periods.

Value of crude or prepared minerals at the mine, well, or plant; Census data for 1939, and data of the Bureau of Mines (new basis) for other periods. (The 1951 figure is estimated.)

Estimate of cost of moving goods from place of production to points of distribution and exports; based on freight revenue of steam railroads, of intercity motor carriers of property, and of pipelines as reported by the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Total of items shown representing a rough estimate of the value of production of movable goods at point of distribution or export. Figures are not adjutsed for price changes.

TABLE 2.-United States merchandise exports and imports and export surplus in relation to gross national product, 1937-39 and 1947-51

Merchandise trade as recorded by the Bureau of the Census with adjustments for other merchandise transactions included in balance of payments estimates.

See footnotes at end of table.