1431 



negotiations, extension of credit, and the flow to the United States 

 of information on multilateral economic and commercial matters. ^^ 

 The Assistant Secretary has five deputies, charged respectively 

 ■with international trade policy, transportation and communications, 

 international finance and development, international resources and 

 food policy, and commercial affairs and business activities. Under 

 one or another of the offices of these Deputy Assistant Secretaries 

 are such technical functions as — 



East-West Trade (including "Battle Act") 



Aviation Negotiations 



Aviation Programs and Policy 



International Communications Policy 



Maritime Affairs 



Tropical Products 



Industrial and Strategic Materials ^ 



Fibers and Textiles 



Food Policy and Programs 



Food for Freedom 



Fuels and Energy 

 While there are ob\Tious economic implications in all these functions, 

 there are also many scientific and technological aspects. A substantial 

 technical input would certainly be essential in the development of 

 "policy recommendations" and "approved policy programs" for which 

 these organizational elements are responsible. 



There are, of course, several ways of ensuring such technical input: 

 by including in the staffs of these organizations persons with technical 

 as well as economic expertise, by close liaison with OES, by callmg 

 upon other Federal agencies for assistance to supplement in-house 

 expertise, and by enlisting consultants and advisers from outside the 

 Government on an ad hoc basis. All these expedients are appropriate 

 even if the mission is limited to reactive responses to new develop- 

 ments. But if creativity in policy is to be achieved, a strong techni- 

 cal capabilit3^ is needed on a continuing basis, closel}^ integrated with 

 the political and economic expertise for negotiation, assessment, and 

 trade analysis. Forecasts of technological change, for example, are 

 likety lo be more reliable in the short run (2 to 5 years) than 

 economic forecasts, simply because the conversion of a new industrial 

 technology into practice takes time and thus gives advance signals. 

 (For a concrete illustration, the 1975 application of British and French 

 airlines for approval of Concorde landings at J. F. Kennedy and Dulles 

 airports could have been forecast in 1968.) 



»** The text of this section in the Foreign Affairs Manual reads as follows (FAM 310) : 



Formulates and implements policy regarding foreign economic matters and trade promotion and 

 business services of an interregional nature and, in this connection, negotiates agreements; serves 

 as Deputy Administrator for the Mutual Defense Assistance Control Act (Battle Act); participates 

 in the selection of officers to senior economic and commercial positions abroad; is responsible for 

 Departmental guidance and representation with respect to U.S. and other public international 

 lending institutions; is responsible for all Departmental activities necessary to advise and assist 

 the Office of the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations in carrying out the trade agreements 

 program under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962; and insures, in coordination with the assistant 

 secretaries of the regional bureaus, the provision of an adequate, regular flow of information concern- 

 ing the U.S. Government's multilateral economic and commercial policies, policy deliberations, 

 legislative developments, and diplomatic exchanges, especially on matters that may result in 

 negotiations and representations abroad. (Sept. 4, 1974.) 



