1971 USA - Color, President Richard Nixon: New Economic Policy Speech To Nation. Pt. 2 of 2
Now, this action will not win us any friends among the international money traders. But our primary concern is w/ the American workers, & w/ fair competition around the world. To our friends abroad, including the many responsible members of the international banking community who are dedicated to stability & the flow of trade, I give this assurance: The United States has always been, and will continue to be, a forward-looking & trustworthy trading partner. In full cooperation w/ the International Monetary Fund & those who trade with us, we will press for the necessary reforms to set up an urgently needed new international monetary system. Stability and equal treatment is in everybody's best interest. I am determined that the American dollar must never again be a hostage in the hands of international speculators.
00:00:57 I am taking one further step to protect the dollar, to improve our balance of payments, & to increase jobs for Americans. As a temporary measure, I am today imposing an additional tax of 10 percent on goods imported into the United States. (Note: Proclamation 4074) This is a better solution for international trade than direct controls on the amount of imports. This import tax is a temporary action. It isn't directed against any other country. It is an action to make certain that American products will not be at a disadvantage because of unfair exchange rates. When the unfair treatment is ended, the import tax will end as well.
00:01:45 As a result of these actions the product of American labor will be more competitive & the unfair edge that some of our foreign competition has will be removed. This is a major reason why our trade balance has eroded over the past 15 years. At the end of WWII the economies of the major industrial nations of Europe and Asia were shattered. To help them get on their feet & to protect their freedom, the United States has provided over the past 25 years $143 billion in foreign aid. That was the right thing for us to do. Today, largely w/ our help, they have regained their vitality. They have become our strong competitors & we welcome their success. But now that other nations are economically strong the time has come for them to bear their fair share of the burden of defending freedom around the world. The time has come for exchange rates to be set straight & for the major nations to compete as equals. There is no longer any need for the United States to compete with one hand tied behind her back.
00:03:09 The range of actions I have taken & proposed tonight: on the job front, on the inflation front, on the monetary front, is the most comprehensive new economic policy to be undertaken in this Nation in four decades. We are fortunate to live in a nation w/ an economic system capable of producing for its people the highest standard of living in the world; a system flexible enough to change its ways dramatically when circumstances call for change; & most important a system resourceful enough to produce prosperity w/ freedom & opportunity unmatched in the history of nations. The purposes of the Government actions I have announced tonight are to lay the basis for renewed confidence, to make it possible for us to compete fairly with the rest of the world, to open the door to new prosperity. But government, w/ all of its powers, does not hold the key to the success of a people. That key, my fellow Americans, is in your hands.
00:04:21 Continued on 250303-02B
Gold Standard Removed; Post-Vietnam Economics; Post-WW2 Unemployment; 1970s; Tariffs; Presidential Speech; Oval Office; Money Speculation; American Cold War Propaganda;
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1971 USA - Color, President Richard Nixon: New Economic Policy Speech To Nation. Pt. 2 of 2 Now, this action will not win us any friends among the international money traders. But our primary concern is w/ the American workers, & w/ fair competition around the world. To our friends abroad, including the many responsible members of the international banking community who are dedicated to stability & the flow of trade, I give this assurance: The United States has always been, and will continue to be, a forward-looking & trustworthy trading partner. In full cooperation w/ the International Monetary Fund & those who trade with us, we will press for the necessary reforms to set up an urgently needed new international monetary system. Stability and equal treatment is in everybody's best interest. I am determined that the American dollar must never again be a hostage in the hands of international speculators. 00:00:57 I am taking one further step to protect the dollar, to improve our balance of payments, & to increase jobs for Americans. As a temporary measure, I am today imposing an additional tax of 10 percent on goods imported into the United States. (Note: Proclamation 4074) This is a better solution for international trade than direct controls on the amount of imports. This import tax is a temporary action. It isn't directed against any other country. It is an action to make certain that American products will not be at a disadvantage because of unfair exchange rates. When the unfair treatment is ended, the import tax will end as well. 00:01:45 As a result of these actions the product of American labor will be more competitive & the unfair edge that some of our foreign competition has will be removed. This is a major reason why our trade balance has eroded over the past 15 years. At the end of WWII the economies of the major industrial nations of Europe and Asia were shattered. To help them get on their feet & to protect their freedom, the United States has provided over the past 25 years $143 billion in foreign aid. That was the right thing for us to do. Today, largely w/ our help, they have regained their vitality. They have become our strong competitors & we welcome their success. But now that other nations are economically strong the time has come for them to bear their fair share of the burden of defending freedom around the world. The time has come for exchange rates to be set straight & for the major nations to compete as equals. There is no longer any need for the United States to compete with one hand tied behind her back. 00:03:09 The range of actions I have taken & proposed tonight: on the job front, on the inflation front, on the monetary front, is the most comprehensive new economic policy to be undertaken in this Nation in four decades. We are fortunate to live in a nation w/ an economic system capable of producing for its people the highest standard of living in the world; a system flexible enough to change its ways dramatically when circumstances call for change; & most important a system resourceful enough to produce prosperity w/ freedom & opportunity unmatched in the history of nations. The purposes of the Government actions I have announced tonight are to lay the basis for renewed confidence, to make it possible for us to compete fairly with the rest of the world, to open the door to new prosperity. But government, w/ all of its powers, does not hold the key to the success of a people. That key, my fellow Americans, is in your hands. 00:04:21 Continued on 250303-02B Gold Standard Removed; Post-Vietnam Economics; Post-WW2 Unemployment; 1970s; Tariffs; Presidential Speech; Oval Office; Money Speculation; American Cold War Propaganda;