1591 



April 2, 1975, the United States and Romania signed a trade a^ee- 

 ment which inchided a i-eciprocal f^rant of MFN status. On April 24, 

 1975, the President issued a waiver of the statutory restriction. Both 

 Houses of Congress subsequently passed concurrent resolutions ap- 

 proving MFN status for Romania. Thus, three Communist countries, 

 Yugoslavia, Poland, and Romania, currently have MFN status and 

 access to official U.S. credits. 



The administration of controls on exports to Communist countries 

 has been characterized by continued lil>eralization in recent years. The 

 Expoi-t Administration Act of 1969 effected a major reorientation in 

 U.S. export control policy. It maintained the controls that had been in 

 effect since World War II, but called for a removal of controls on 

 goods and technology that are readily available to Communist coun- 

 tries from non-U.S. sources and on items that are only marginally of 

 military value. The 1969 legislation rej^resented a new mandate for 

 exi)ort controls. Whereas the thrust of previous laws had been to limit 

 East -West trade, the new Act was designed to foster such trade. The 

 Nixon administration initially resisted the changes in the law but 

 subsequently accepted them and used the new mandate to reduce sub- 

 stantially the amount of goods and technologies that were prohibited 

 for export to Communist countries. The Export Administration 

 Amendments of 1977 (Public Law 95-52), signed by President Carter 

 on June 22, 1977, made further significant changes in the law. They 

 include a requirement to expedite the export licensing process and 

 language which shifts the emphasis of national security controls from 

 exports to Communist countries as such to exports to any country 

 which poses a threat to the United States. 



Carter Administration Policy 



The Carter Administration has not enunciated a comprehensive 

 policy on U.S. East-West trade. However, the initial steps taken in 

 this area and statements by administration spokesmen suggest an 

 intention to follow cautiously the lead of previous administrations in 

 normalizing commercial relations with the East. Thus, President 

 Carter has recommended an extension of the waiver authority enabling 

 Romania to maintain its MFN status and eligibility for government 

 credits. His administration has opened negotiations with the People's 

 Republic of China on settlement of financial claims between the two 

 countries — an important step toward expanding trade. The President 

 has also signed the Export Administration Amendments of 1977, which 

 appear to call for a less restrictive policy on export controls toward 

 Communist countiies. At the same time, the Carter administration's 

 denial of an export license for the sale of a sophisticated Cyber-76 

 computer to the Soviet Union seemingly established a precedent for 

 limiting the kinds of technology eligible for export to the East. 



Statements by administration spokesmen have confirmed a general 

 inclination toward normalization of U.S. trade with Communist 

 countries. 



In his confirmation hearings before the Senate Banking, Housing 

 and Urban Affairs Committee, John L. Moore, President Carter's 

 nominee as President and Chairman of the Export-Import Bank, ex- 

 pressed his support for Eximbank financing of trade with the Soviet 

 Union.^**^* Later, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance said that he hoped 



!*»» U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Banking, Housing and Urt>an Affairs. Nomina- 

 tion of John L. Moore, Jr. Hearings, 95th Congress, Ist session, April 20, 1977. Washington, 

 U.S. Govt. Print. Off.. 1977; p 7. 



