Mr. Stans referred also to problems relating
to policy on Government procurement.
Unlike the
position in the United States under the Buy America
legislation, United States exporters to Europe
had no clear ground rules laid down on the terms
on which they could compete. He was hopeful that discussions in O.E.C.D. would produce some useful
results in this respect. The United States Government
would welcome something equivalent to the Buy America Act
laying down the terms on which their exporters could
compete for Government contracts in European countries.
There were further problems in relation to technical
requirements which overtly were for the purpose of
health or safety but which seemed very often to be
primarily protectionist. And then again, he mentioned
export subsidies of various types which affected the
terms of competition.
Mr. Stans said that he had put forward the
suggestion that there should be "an open table policy”.
The objective would be to get all the facts about the
legal and administrative impediments to trade out into
the open.
It would then be for consideration how these
might be removed by bilateral or multilateral negotiation.
He had found an almost unanimous reaction in favour
of proceeding in this way. The French had been cautious
but otherwise the countries he had visited had been
very ready to examine now the non-tariff barriers could
be reduced. This had applied also to the Commission
of the E.E.C. and the G.A.T.T.
Mr. Stans said that President Nixon also hed in
/mind
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