Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 42. (1992)

NAUTZ, Jürgen: Österreichische Überlegungen zur wirtschaftlichen Integration Europas und zum europäischen Machtgleichgewicht. Die wirtschaftspolitischen Arbeiten Richard Schüllers im amerikanischen Exil 1943–1950

Jürgen Nautz

for the formation of a customs union or of a free-trade area”, provided that duties and other regulations of commerce applied to the trade of member countries not included in such area “shall not be higher or more restrictive than corresponding duties and other regulations of commerce existing in the same constituent territories prior to the formation of the free-trade area”.

This alternative has not yet been publicity explained and discussed, but it is worth analyzing. A free-trade area means a group of countries in which duties and other trade restrictions are eliminated on the trade of products originating in member countries. Thus the European countries would agree to establish “reciprocal free trade without a customs union”. Each country would pledge itself to admit free of duties and restrictions the goods produced in the other participating countries. Under such a system each country has its own tariff and decides on change of customs duties and other controls that apply to commodoties imported from countries outside the area. It negotiates and concludes trade agreements independently. In increases or diminishes, by raising or reducing its tariff or controls on trade with countries not included in the area, the advantages which its partners derive from the pact 2).

A customs union has always been recognized as an exception to the most-favored-nation clause. But since free-trade areas did not exist, they were not specifically excepted. The free-trade area plan differs widely from preferential tariffs; since it is reciprocal, its benefits could hardly be claimed by any country unwilling to grant free trade to other participating countries. Nevertheless, the issue might have become controversial, had not the ITO Charter made it clear that freedom of trade within a freetrade area, like that within a customs union, is not subject to most-favored-nation treatment.

This schema for reciprocal free trade eliminates most of the political and technical difficulties inherent in the formation of a customs union. Small countries have no reason to fear that they will be dominated by their greater partners. No common machinery has to be set up since the partners do not have to devise a common tariff and submit it to their parliaments; nor do they have to agree on changes in their tariffs and their customs pratices. No identical controls of trade and exchange are

2) In 1931, I was faced with the problem of establishing close economic relations between Austria, Hungária and Italy without a customs union, which was politically impossible, and without preferential tariffs, which were excluded by most-favored-nation treaties. Thus I conceived the plan of reciprocal free trade. The idea was gradually and successfully put into effect, though in an apparently rather complicated form. In 1938 the occupation of Austria by the Germans put an end to this experiment. Subse- quent-ly, the plan was adopted by Honduras, San Salvador and Nicaragua, which granted each other free trade for all but a few commodities.

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