ABSTRACT
In October 1945 the US State Department prepared an ‘information programme’ to educate the American public, and therefore Congress too, as to the benefits of the United States’ new commitment to multilateral tariff reductions. A central theme of the numerous speeches delivered, in particular, by Assistant Secretary of State William Clayton, was the importance of a strong Anglo-American partnership to support the American commitment to ‘Good Neighbourliness’. ‘No other country’, the American public was told, was ‘as important to our international trade, or indeed, the international trade of the world as Great Britain.’1 Anxious to educate the American public as to the ‘economic realities’ which demanded an unequivocal American commitment to the international economy, the State Department worried whether the subject of economics was sufficiently ‘sexy’ to engage the interest of the American public. So rather than dwell on the subtleties of multilateral trade negotiation, particular stress was placed on the importance of AngloAmerican co-operation. Historical examples livened up the innumerable speeches and interviews given across the United States of America. In particular, the history of British ‘responsibility’ toward the world economy in the nineteenth century was contrasted with the ‘irresponsibility’ of American protectionism during the Depression and the new enlightened thinking which prevailed throughout the United States’ policies in the new world order. The information programme soon ran into trouble, however, as Anglo-American negotiations foundered once again on the issue of regional (imperial) protection. By 1948 State Department efforts to educate key protectionist lobby groups, notably the agricultural community, as to the benefits of tariff liberalisation no longer dwelt on Anglo-American partnership-the message now was that the United States must show leadership in the world economy.
