Secretary Hodges, Mr. Haynes, Mr. Connor, Mr. Blackie, ladies and gentlemen:
It is a pleasure for me to welcome you to the White House this morning and to thank you for spending the day in Washington to tell us about your recent conversations in Moscow and about the prospects for trade between ourselves and the Soviet Union.
I have been very stimulated by the discussions that some of our exchanges have had with other countries in the world concerning our future relations with them and particularly our exchanging trade with them.
The Science Adviser to the President brought in a group the other day that had accompanied him to the Soviet Union, men from the Bell Laboratories and IBM and other prominent industrialists, and I spent a very fruitful few minutes listening to their experiences and to their recommendations.
As I have observed in my communications to my countrymen, I have suggested that the leadership in Government--and that would be Secretary Hodges and the new Secretary, Mr. Connor, and Secretary of Labor and other Cabinet officers--pursue relentlessly with the leaders of business in this country and the leaders of labor some of their recommendations that have come out of these exchanges and out of these studies. The Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee has recently sent a questionnaire to leading business people throughout our country asking for their views and their recommendations. I look forward to receiving reports from these various groups that are applying themselves to this project and I will carefully review their findings and their conclusions and reach some of my own and at an appropriate time submit my recommendations to the Congress.
I think all of you know your Government is committed to explore ways to increase peaceful trade with the Soviet Union and with the countries of Eastern Europe. Now the leaders of both business and labor have had some exchanges and have some good solid recommendations, some of which you made this morning and we will want to pursue further. I am confident that the results of these meetings will, and these trips, these exchanges, will be to improve both our understanding and theirs of what must be done if we are to take advantage of the possibility of trade between us.
As I observed a night or so ago when I addressed the Congress, if we are to live together in peace, we must know each other better. A long axiom in my political thinking has been that a man's judgment is no better than his information on any given subject. You men who have gone there and made a study of these problems are bringing the American people information which is quite essential to their determining what is a wise policy for this Nation. I think there is no better way to come to know each other than to engage in peaceful and profitable commerce together. I think it is extremely important that we constantly keep in view our own national interest and what is best for our own country, and these exchanges no doubt will help some of you to point up what is best for our national interest.
I want to again thank you for your initiative and for your enterprise and for the time that you have taken to make this study. Your assessment of what we ,night do to expand our trade with these countries in peaceful goods is most welcome. I assure you that in the early days of the new administration, that the most competent talent available to us in government, in business, and in labor will be recruited and their recommendations considered to the end that we determine what would be a wise and proper policy for our Government.
I thank you for coming here. I enjoy getting to know you. I don't want to put in any commercials for any particular companies but to those men that have had to shoulder an extra load while you have been gone from your desks I hope you will carry them the President's appreciation. I started out my career as a youngster on a highway gang riding a 5-ton tractor and last week I observed with a great deal of pride what a Caterpillar bulldozer can do, so I want to say to Mr. Blackie if his recommendations are as solid as his equipment, they are going to receive very good consideration.
Note: The President spoke at 12:15 p.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White House. His opening words referred to Luther Hodges, Secretary of Commerce, Eldridge Haynes, president of Business International, Inc., John T. Connor, Secretary of Commerce-designate, and William Blackie, president of the Caterpillar Tractor Co.
Early in his remarks the President referred to a meeting with his Science Adviser and a group of industrial research leaders on December 15, 1964 (see 1963-64 volume (Book II), this series, Item 804) and later, to his message to the Congress on the State of the Union (Item 4, above).
Preceding the President's remarks Secretary Hodges introduced Mr. Blackie, spokesman for the group which had visited Moscow as participants in a trade roundtable sponsored by Business International, Inc. Mr. Blackie reported on their visit as follows:
"Mr. President, I believe that I might best serve my purpose this morning by making a further condensation or summary of the views struck out by this group somewhere between 1 and 2 o'clock this morning.
"Our first observation is, the Soviet Union desires greater trade with the United States and has indicated a willingness to discuss the settlement of whatever obstacles there may be to that trade, including the lend-lease obligation. As businessmen we naturally are interested in any opportunities there might be for advancing the growth and prosperity of our companies and through them our country, but we are much more interested in the security and welfare of the United States and the rest of the free world. We would not have gone to Moscow without the approval of our Government and we would not be willing to seek greater trade with Soviet Russia unless our Government's policy would encourage us to do so.
"The basic problems between the United States and Soviet Russia are political and trade can never be a complete substitute for continuous effort to solve these problems. But in this context trade policy could be made an instrument of national policy and it is in that light that we would prefer it be regarded. Mutual beneficial trade is normally a desirable goal in and of itself. But in the case of trade with the Soviet Union under today's conditions, it could have added meaning, presenting an opportunity to bridge a communications gap, to establish more contacts, and to develop greater understanding between the two countries. It seemed to us very possible more trade could improve the climate for political settlement just as political settlement might pave the way for more trade.
"It also occurs to us that our objective should be to seize every reasonable opportunity to influence the evolution of Soviet society toward goals that are more acceptable to the West and if capitalism and free enterprise be as good as we think we are proving they are, they should also be better for the Soviet people than world communism dominated by the Kremlin. This could be part of our continuing effort to persuade Soviet leaders the goals of peace and higher standards of living for their people can be achieved more surely and more quickly by their accepting the permanence and the political economic systems of the West by seeking assurances of security at the conference table and advancing economic growth through mutually beneficial trade.
"The opportunity to influence this kind of evolution of Soviet attitude obviously depends on the number and quality of the contacts we were able to make, and as matters stand today, contacts between American business and Soviet Union are limited almost entirely to Government officials on both sides. On the other hand if the United States does not see fit to modify some of its present policies then we can expect that Soviet Russia will continue to obtain most of what it wants from other Western powers and will continue to build plants to produce what it is unable to obtain either from them or from us. This might slow its economic growth somewhat but in the long run might have the effect of putting the Russians in better position to compete with us in world markets. That is where major competition is most likely to occur--to deny economic benefits to the United States that arise from mutually beneficial trade, to further restrain relations between our countries, to strain them, to further separate United States policy from cooperation with those of our allies, and to deny opportunities for contact and influence over the evolution of Soviet attitude, policy, and practice. If within the limits of military security we were now to open the channels of trade with the Soviet Union, contact with Soviet officials, with foreign trade organizations and Soviet industrial managers, all would multiply. Mutually beneficial deals, licensing arrangements, and possibly even joint ventures might be developed. Through successful experience in cooperation, successful for both sides, it would be our hope that some present fears would fade and that confidence might grow."
Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks to a Group of Business Leaders Upon Their Return From a Visit to Moscow. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/241257
