804 



world, since an important feature of the program was "the carrying 

 out of what was in fact a large-scale technical assistance program in 

 the overseas territories of the participating countries."" °^ President 

 Truman publicly recognized the needs of the less developed countries 

 in the fourth point of his 1949 inaugural address, calling for a "bold 

 new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and 

 industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of un- 

 derdeveloped areas." ** The ensuing program of technical assistance, 

 known as the Point IV program, launched the United States into di- 

 rect involvement with the problems of developing nations, now the 

 main focus of all foreign aid. The United States was also involved 

 indirectly, through contribi^tions to U.N. technical assistance and 

 through bilateral assistance to those countries with colonial 

 dependencies. 



U.S. FOOD AID Ti) DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 



The United States moved into the field of technicel assistance to the 

 developing countries at a time when food shortages had become a 

 worldwide p;-oblem. There had been famine in India following a crop 

 failure in 1943, and in 1952 starvation threatened both India and 

 Pakistan. The struggle between the Chinese Nationalists and the Chi- 

 nese Communists had disrupted food production over wide areas of 

 the Chinese mainland, and there was famine among the refugees from 

 that conflict. The Arab countries were inundated with refugees from 

 Israel, and lacked sufficient food resources to handle the influx. 



At this time Avhen the LDCs were desperate for food, U.S. food sur- 

 l)luses were beginning to accumulate. No machinery existed for trans- 

 ferring this surplus abroad. Furthermore, although it seemed both 

 morally and politically sound for the United States to set up such ma- 

 cliinery, it needed to be done without adversely affecting the food pro- 

 duction and commercial trade of other countries. The solution devised 

 for this problem was the Agricultural Trade and Development Act of 

 1954, popularly known as "P.L. 480." 



This Act declared that the policy of Congress was "* * * to make 

 maximum efficient use of surplus agricultural commodities in further- 

 ance of the foreign policy of the United States." To achieve this ob- 

 jective the law provided that "surplus agricultural commodities in 

 excess of the usual marketings * * ♦ may be sold through private 

 channels, and foreign currencies accepted in payment thereror." " The 

 foreign currencies thus acquired could be used, among other things, 

 "for promoting balanced economic development and trade among na- 

 tions." Some of the "soft currency" earned by the United States in 

 this manner has been spent in the countries of origin to cover mainte- 

 nance costs of U.S. embassies, for example, or military installations. A 

 substantia,l part of it, however, has either been loaned or granted to 

 the receiving countries to be used in development projects. 



*» William Adams Brown. Jr. and Redvers Ople. "American Porelm Assistance" (Wash- 

 inpton. The Brookings Institution, 1953), page 433. 



""Public Papers of U.S. President Harry S. Truman: 1949" (Washington, U.S. 

 Government Printing Office, 1964), page 117. 



•» Section 2. Public Law 480, 83d Congress. Also section 104 (e) 68 Stat. 454, approved 

 July 10, 1954. See "Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 and 

 Amendments." Compile by Oilman O. Udell, Superintendent, Document Room, House of 

 Representatives (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1971). pages 1, 3. 



