The World Today, Round Trip is distributed by Encyclopedia Britanica Films (:08) and presented by The Twentieth Century Fund (:13). The film’s focal point will be the US and world trade (1:21), beginning with steel and oil. The question is posed of foreign trade, does it do us any good ? (2:32). The train shown — pulled by a steam engine — is carrying 10 million tons and will travel to twenty-five different countries (2:54). A passenger on another train vocalizes his disapproval of foreign trade. The film shows workers abroad and their arguments for it (4:21). A foreign mechanic needs new equipment, yet this new equipment will not be a gift as it must be paid for (5:02). The only way for countries to pay for the needed goods was to sell their own goods back. US workers feared these machines and goods would compete with their own products (6:08). An economist with experience in the subject, explains these arguments had occurred before (6:33). For ten years after the first World War, there existed a great need for American products across the globe (6:56). Short sighted thinking ensued and some believed all that was necessary was to send products to the foreign ports and all would be well (7:08). Unfortunately, all transfers were conducted on credit and needed to be paid for (7:25). The only way for those countries to pay their debts was through sale of their own product back (7:28).
Another issue were the imposed tariffs which made it difficult for countries to send goods and most had to ship gold instead (7:40). This resulted with the US holding more than 23 of the world’s gold supply and confusion over what to do with it (8:02). The foreign trade then dried up and only added to the depression (8:29). Paul Hoffman speaks, informing viewers while foreign trade was not the only cause it was an important one (8:48). There was also the concern that countries like South America purchasing largely machinery, would eventually not need to buy machinery or anything from the US as they would be able to create it themselves (9:41).
The American need for foreign products and trade is shown through the General Manager of the Midwest MFG Co (11:11). He waits on a shipment from Switzerland, and shows miniscule chains that cannot be made in the US as example. Other examples include, Brazilian coffee, Havana cigars and a watch from Switzerland (12:29).In agriculture, farmers were concerned goods sent from over seas would compete with their own crops and wanted protection (13:18). This leads to the wage argument which many were misled by (14:13). While some foreign laborers made much less they were only able to produce less without the machinery used in the US industries (14:38). The industry paid out billions of dollars annually for goods that could be created more efficiently and cheaper from other countries (16:04). The idea was to focus on the goods and products we could produce most efficiently and import the ones we could not. On the floor of the Economic and Social Council (17:08), delegates from 50 nations were able to bring common sense and order into trade relations showing just how much foreign trade had progressed (17:44). The film concludes with the notion in “order to keep the wheels turning”, everyone in every countries needed to receive a fair chance for business and to keep their own jobs (18:19).
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