ABSTRACT
Trade policy became the major economic building bloc in Soviet containment. Trade policy can be subdivided into four aspects: commercial policy, foreign investment policy, foreign-aid policy and balance-of-payments policy. Trade policy, in conjunction with encouraging development of democratic institutions, turned into a major segment of US overall foreign policy. Trade policy, after World War II, became a major crutch of foreign policy as US trade policy tilted toward allowing other countries and companies access to US markets while not necessarily requiring similar access to their markets. Post-World War II trade policy took place in an environment where countries exporting to the United States had larger net gains than the United States, but that was the objective of utilizing trade as a foreign-policy tool. The key to foreign-country growth in the post-World War II period was to take advantage of the US open-door trade policy, foreign aid, and global defense strategy.
