Presidential Statement No. 8 on Economic Issues: Expanding World Trade.

1. THE POLICY of trade liberalization-pursued ever since the Trade Agreements Act of 1934, by both Democratic and Republican administrations--has served this country well. Our foreign trade, which amounted to only $3.8 billion in 1934, is now running at an annual rate of $42 1/2 billion-$24 1/2 billion in exports and $18 billion in imports.

2. Our exports provide jobs for about 3.6 million American workers and outlets for the crops of one out of every four acres of our farms. Our imports provide essential raw materials for our industries, maintain a healthy pressure on our own producers and workers to step up their efficiency, offer our consumers a wider choice of goods at competitive prices, and counteract domestic pressures for price increases.

3. On the basis of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, we are currently able to engage in the sixth round of international negotiations under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The Trade Expansion Act is one of the great legislative monuments to President Kennedy's leadership, and this administration is fully committed to its vigorous implementation.

4. The current negotiations will not impose burdens on some nations to provide gains for others. They are being conducted on a basis of reciprocity, and their success will be advantageous to all participating nations. The negotiations may be lengthy, complex, and at times difficult, but we are prudently confident of fruitful results.

5. Special import difficulties confronting particular sections of our economy may at times require remedial action. This administration has taken action to meet the problems of meat producers and of cotton textile and apparel manufacturers. We are also seeking to work out arrangements among the woolen textile-producing nations which would be in the mutual interests of all.

6. However necessary, such remedial actions are the exception rather than the rule. The main thrust of this administration--as of Democratic and Republican administrations for the past 30 years--will be toward trade liberalization.