National Affairs: Battle to Stand Still

Committed to the "trade not aid" idea, the Eisenhower Administration proposed last spring to 1) continue the reciprocal trade program for one year, and 2) meanwhile, set up a commission to study the problem and work out a sound policy. Even that far from bold program ran into trouble on Capitol Hill. Pennsylvania's Republican Representative Richard Simpson introduced a bill to extend the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act and gut it with protectionist amendments. The Administration put up a battle, finally got most of what it had asked.

In June, Simpson & Co. brought forward a new bill to amend the Reciprocal Trade...