Examples of Change, Especially in the United States
Examples of Change, Especially in the United States
The twentieth century opened with peaceful trading operations between the United States and what was then Russia. The two countries were neither allies nor enemies, so there was no official governmental effort to expand or restrict the volume of trade. When the two countries became allies in World War I, U.S. exports to Russia jumped more than eighteenfold, due largely to war-related credits. When the Bolsheviks came to power, Soviet foreign trade became a state-controlled monopoly, credits nearly disappeared, and U.S. exports to the country became negligible. A formal trade agreement between the countries in 1935 resulted in the Soviet Union's becoming the biggest customer for the United States during the Depression. In 1939 the German-Russian nonaggression pact and subsequent invasions of Poland and the Baltic states led to the imposition of certain U.S. export embargoes, which were dropped in 1941 when the two countries again became allies and major trading partners. Between 1947 and 1953, in the early Cold War period, trade between the United States and the USSR became almost nonexistent.7 Trade has climbed since 1953, but with substantial year-to-year changes because of political relationships and agreements. The most notable agreements were special wheat sales and growth in credit, which caused exports to jump in the 1970s.
U.S. trade with the East European countries, China, and Cuba fell to nearly zero after communist takeovers. With leadership changes in Eastern Europe and China, their trade with the United States has increased. Table 10.2 shows recent U.S. trade with major HPEs, indicating that China is by far
the dominant HPE trading partner with the United States. Overall, U.S. trade with all HPEs comprises only about 3 percent of total U.S. exports and imports.
Exports from other Western industrialized countries have followed varied patterns, reflecting once again the diverse political relationships. For example, in the critical period from 1948 to 1953, when U.S. exports to communist countries fell so sharply, the exports of Canada, the United Kingdom, and Sweden to the Eastern bloc took sharp declines as well, whereas the exports of Austria, Finland, France, and West Germany shot upward. When the United States cut exports in response to the former Soviet's invasion of Afghanistan, exports from Canada and the United Kingdom increased substantially to the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
The twentieth century opened with peaceful trading operations between the United States and what was then Russia. The two countries were neither allies nor enemies, so there was no official governmental effort to expand or restrict the volume of trade. When the two countries became allies in World War I, U.S. exports to Russia jumped more than eighteenfold, due largely to war-related credits. When the Bolsheviks came to power, Soviet foreign trade became a state-controlled monopoly, credits nearly disappeared, and U.S. exports to the country became negligible. A formal trade agreement between the countries in 1935 resulted in the Soviet Union's becoming the biggest customer for the United States during the Depression. In 1939 the German-Russian nonaggression pact and subsequent invasions of Poland and the Baltic states led to the imposition of certain U.S. export embargoes, which were dropped in 1941 when the two countries again became allies and major trading partners. Between 1947 and 1953, in the early Cold War period, trade between the United States and the USSR became almost nonexistent.7 Trade has climbed since 1953, but with substantial year-to-year changes because of political relationships and agreements. The most notable agreements were special wheat sales and growth in credit, which caused exports to jump in the 1970s.
U.S. trade with the East European countries, China, and Cuba fell to nearly zero after communist takeovers. With leadership changes in Eastern Europe and China, their trade with the United States has increased. Table 10.2 shows recent U.S. trade with major HPEs, indicating that China is by far
the dominant HPE trading partner with the United States. Overall, U.S. trade with all HPEs comprises only about 3 percent of total U.S. exports and imports.
Exports from other Western industrialized countries have followed varied patterns, reflecting once again the diverse political relationships. For example, in the critical period from 1948 to 1953, when U.S. exports to communist countries fell so sharply, the exports of Canada, the United Kingdom, and Sweden to the Eastern bloc took sharp declines as well, whereas the exports of Austria, Finland, France, and West Germany shot upward. When the United States cut exports in response to the former Soviet's invasion of Afghanistan, exports from Canada and the United Kingdom increased substantially to the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
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