ABSTRACT
Foreign Aid, in the guise of subsidised exports, can be a way of thanking another nation for past or future assistance. The rich exporting nations signed the articles of the Consensus with a vital proviso that seriously emasculated the convention. As the international agreement was concerned with commercial contracts, exports under the umbrella of Foreign Aid were excluded. 1986 promises to be more salubrious. Both Washington and London are speaking openly of soft loans to beat competition from other countries without mentioning that they are motivated to help the Third World. British export zealots have pleaded that Aid and Trade Provisions funds should not really be counted when economists compute the total value of the UK's multifarious export subsidies. Washington's patience finally snapped in 1979 and the US authorities entered the fray with several unorthodox financing packages.
