The London Times went so far as to call it “aforward outpost of the McCarthyist outlook,” and few foreignbusinessmen thought that the strict U.S.-inspired embargo on”strategic” goods to Communist lands made too much sense. The embargo,they argued, had not noticeably stunted Russia’s industrial growth; ittended to make Red China more and more dependent on the Soviet Union,and it deprived Western nations of much-needed markets. Over the years,bit by bit, the U.S. has had to give in to such pressure. Last week,after five months of arguing, the Coordinating Committee (COCOM) ofEuropean nations, the U.S., Canada and Japan slashed the number ofembargoed items from 181 to 118. It also lifted all controls over theamounts of goods that could be exported to Communist nations.
Though the U.S. will not have its own list ready for at least twomonths, it promptly made it clear that it would hold to its ban as faras Communist Asia (China, North Korea, North Viet Nam) is concerned.Other nations follow no such double standard for Eastern Europe andAsia. They will now be allowed to export to any country that wants themsuch newly freed items as civil aircraft (including turboprop), allkinds of trucks, tankers under 18 knots, industrial diamonds, allpetroleum refinery equipment, all turbines and diesel engines. But forall their cries that the relaxed embargo was a victory of “commonsense,” the U.S.’s allies expect no dramatic rise in trade withCommunist countries that have shown themselves so guided by politicalwhims, so chronically plagued by a shortage of currency or a lack ofgoods that meet Western specifications. Though Britain’s trade withCommunist countries, for example, has more than doubled in the pastseven years, it is still only 2.6% of total U.K. exports. In a morerealistic vein, the London Times warned: “When the Communists talkabout increasing trade, they are as often concerned with the politicaleffect of their words as with any goods they may want to buy.” Added aRuhr industrialist: “The demand for Russian caviar is not unlimited inGermany, and it is not always easy to obtain other goods for which wemight have better use.”