Guidelines for our trade policy

Our foreign trade policy must be guided by the following guidelines:

1. The reparations policies of post-war governments have made Germany one of the poorest civilized nations. [Footnote: According to American estimates by the official Instut (sic) of Economics in Washington, Germany has so far paid 38 billion marks in reparations to the victorious states. According to German estimates, if one includes the occupation of the Ruhr and the dismantling of our industry, the total is 67 1/2 billion marks. And this huge sum does not include the value of the land we lost, nor that of our colonies. The colonies alone are estimated to be worth 80 to 100 billion marks. Nor does it include the incalculable harm and losses resulting from the arbitrary dismembering of Germany. Furthermore, to pay reparations, Germany took on a private foreign debt of 10.3 billion marks, which it must also repay on top of reparations.] It would be an irresponsible waste to accept a negative balance of payments with foreign countries in the future. The German people does notexist in order to accept the surplus production of other peoples.
2. We should strive to produce that which we are capable of producing. The German people is forced to do this.
3. National Socialism demands that the needs of German workers no longer be supplied by Soviet slaves, Chinese coolies, and Negroes. National Socialism is determined to eliminate the barriers between the cultural level of German workers and German farmers. Therefore, import restrictions must be implemented when the result will be work for the German worker or the German farmer. National Socialism opposes the liberal world economy, as well as the Marxist world economy. Instead, it demands that each people’s comrade be protected from foreign competition.
4. Before the war, Germany was one of the great powers. Today, it is a second class country. Its raw materials come primarily from abroad, the transportation routes to which can be instantly severed, for Germany is not in a position to maintain and protect the routes to these sources of raw materials. Therefore, a guideline of National Socialist policy is to cover the German people’s needs by its own production as far as possible,securing the amount in excess of domestic production from friendly European states, particularly if they are wiling to accept industrial products from Germany as payment.

Carrying out these measures will be the task of the Office for Foreign Economic Relations (Foreign Trade Office and Foreign Currency Office).

Objection 1:The decline in German exports is simply the result of the world economic crisis.

Response: If this were the case, exports of other countries would also have declined by 35% in the first four months of 1932. English exports, however, declined by only 8%.

Objection 2: Reducing imports will reduce German exports, and thus result in increased unemployment.

Response: German exports will not be reduced by a decrease in German imports, since we will primarily reduce imports from those countries from which we imported more than we exported, those with which we had a negative balance of payments. According to the official Reich Statistical Office, Germany had a negative balance of payments of about 270 million marks within countries outside Europe during the first quarter of 1932.

Objection 3: Protecting domestic production will lead to a general increase in prices.

Response: That will not happen, since to the extent German production increases, welfare payments will decline. Public expenses will therefore be lower, and distributed to a larger range of productive activity. There will, therefore, be no new burdens on the economy, but rather a lesser burden.