DEFENCE‐RELATED EXPORT CONTROLS AND US FOREIGN TRADE

The United States and its major trading partners prohibit export to the Soviet bloc of products and technologies that are readily convertible to military power. These controls affect international marketers less in the Eighties than they did in the Seventies. The best prospects for overall growth in Western trade now lie with the newly industrialising countries of Asia. Moreover, Soviet markets remain open for agriculture and many mid‐level technologies. Because most advanced technologies have military as well as civilian applications, defence‐related export controls probably will remain at their present level. However, it is possible that these controls might be reduced out of a general frustration with the US trading position in the world.