The Common Market

Abstract

During the past month, the Kennedy administration has begun one of the most intensive campaigns to "condition" public opinion in recent memory. The purpose is to build up support for new foreign trade legislation to replace the present Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act which expires next June. At the very center of this "educational" effort stands an entity called the Common Market. According to administration spokesmen from Kennedy down, the formation of the Common Market presents the United States with both a threat and an opportunity. To avert the threat and cash in on the opportunity, new legislation is needed which would allow the government to lower tariffs across the board in exchange for similar concessions by the Common Market. Armed with such powers, the administration could open up vast new outlets for American exports, and this in turn would enable the United States to rectify a weakness in its balance of payments which has become chronic in recent years and now threatens the nation's dominant position in the "free world."

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