Trade with Russia—at a Price
The publication of some, though still not all, of the terms of the Anglo-Soviet trade agreement has done nothing to remove the early impression that Britain has paid through the nose for 750,000 tons of coarse grains. Such is the British need for the" kinds of things which Russia can produce, and such, in a wicked world, is the advantage possessed by a determined debtor, that the concessions so far announced were perhaps inevitable. But to waive the repay- ment in cash of go per cent. of the £roo,000,000 credit granted to Russia in 1941, to agree to a reduction of the rate of interest on the outstanding balance of the credit from 3 per cent. to per cent., and to extend the period of redemption of loans from 7 to 15 ,years, is to carry concession to extremes which a country as impoverished as Britain can ill afford. If the reason for the postponement of the announcement of the prices to be paid for the 750,000 tons of fodder grains is a desire to soften the blow, then indeed the corresponding benefits conferred by the Russians will have to be impressive. At the moment those benefits consist of the 750,000 tons of feeding stuffs referred to, an agreement to purchase British machinery, and a promise to discuss a wider and longer agreement next May. The .President of the Board of Trade, Mr. Harold Wilson, has expressed the hope that this -will be the first of a series of some 20 or 3o agreements with countries which have goods to sell and are willing to buy our exports. It is to be hoped that on purely commercial grounds they will be better bargains for Britain than this one.
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