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BOARD DF GOVERNORS DF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM Office Correspondence D a te November 2 s , Tft Chairman Eccles Subject: Export-Import Bank credit to Frnm "*»K n a PP Belgium U# In my memorandum of November 2U concerning the proposed 50 million dollar Export-Import Bank credit to Belgium, I pointed out that the Belgians had been pursuing a very liberal import policy and concluded that: "In view of the competitive demands for Export-Import Bank funds, and in view of the general problem of the impact of foreign requirements upon our economy, I must conclude that in this case the Belgians should be encouraged to restrict their imports from the United States rather than be granted credits to permit their continuation*" The National Advisory Council has now approved the 50 million dollar credit to Belgium, and the Export-Import Bank has described this credit in its press release as "for the purpose of maintaining purchases of essential raw materials and equipment in the United States which would permit the continuation of the high level of industrial production in Belgium11. However, I feel I should call your attention to the following excerpt from a recent newspaper dispatch from Brussels indicating what seems to me nothing short of extravagance in the Belgian import program: "During the first eight months of the year Belgium imported United States nylon hosiery valued at 518*260,000 francs (about |ll,327,328), Foreign Trade :4inister Baron Francois-Xavier Van Der Straten-¥aillet declared here today. He added that rayon hosiery imported during the same period was valued at 36,292,000 francs (about $827,457)• "Many# protests have been made since August by Belgian hosiery manufacturers to their Government with regard to excessive imports of United States nylon hosiery and the consequent idleness of many Belgian plants, but so far no results have been obtained."
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