THE HEMISPHERE: Deal in Tin

In the hemispheric game of making friends (and thus influencing peoples), Argentina is one up on the U.S. As a result, Bolivia, already on a diet of Argentine beef and wheat, now looks to Buenos Aires for much of its folding money.

The story is told in terms of Bolivia's one export crop: tin. For weeks, Bolivia has been dickering with the U.S. Metals Reserve Co. for a 9¢-a-pound price boost (to 76¢) on the 20,000 tons it ships annually to the tin-hungry U.S. The U.S. finally offered 74¢. Then the Argentines (who are granting Bolivia a $62,500,000 loan) stepped in. Argentina contracted for 8,000 tons a year at the Bolivian asking price and agreed to take 12,000 tons more if no other buyers showed up.

The odd detail of the deal is that Argentina, which uses only 3,000 tons of tin a year, has no smelter to process the ore. Presumably Argentina will have it smelted in England. But what would she do with the surplus over her own needs? It might be smart business to sell it to the U.S.—at a fancy profit.