WORLD TRADE CHARTER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26631, 29 November 1947, Page 7

WORLD TRADE CHARTER

MULTILATERAL PRINCIPLES DEFENDED BY AMERICAN DELEGATE Rec. 9 p.m. HAVANA (Cuba). Nov. 27. The United States stood firm to-day for a strong International Trade Organisation Charter in the fact of attacks by the Latin-American bloc, which seeks to water down the Charter's strictures against quotas and tariffs. Mr William Clayton, head of the American delegation, told the plenary session of the World Trade Conference that the Charter should not be emasculated by amendments. He denied the implications by some LatinAmerican speakers that the Charter

was confined to the needs and interests of a small group of states. The Charter was designed to meet the needs of all nationals. “ The Charter must not be overloaded with a multiplicity of exceptions and escape clauses. Only two roads are open to us,” said Mr Clayton. “ One leads to multilateral non-dis-criminatory trade with a great increase in production, distribution and consumption of goods with resultant happier world-wide relationships. The other leads to economic nationalism, restrictionism, bilateralism, discriminatory practices, the lowering of living standards, and bad feeling throughout the world.” Poland and Sweden previously had defended as an economic necessity their bilateral trade treaties with the Soviet.