In the early postwar period, the main basis of American foreign economic policy was to revive the dying allied economies in order to strengthen control over Europe or form a group to resist the challenge from an uncertain group in Eastern Europe. From 65438 to 0945, the United States began to give a small share of aid to European countries, and European countries did not reject the American aid plan after the war. As a representative of anti-American forces, Charles de Gaulle finally had to consider the needs of the French economy for American aid and give up the plan to establish a European group against the United States. 1(P75) From the perspective of the United States, they feel that this kind of assistance will reduce the possibility of major political instability in Europe again and control the emergence of war factors. From a purely economic point of view, this plan to help Europe revive can also ensure sufficient international market for the United States.

On the economic policy towards the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the United States began to want to include it in the European aid plan. In the White House report in July 1945 asking Congress to increase the assets of the Export-Import Bank from 700 million US dollars to 3.5 billion US dollars, it is planned to provide credit loans to the Soviet Union from July 1945 to July 1946, and it will provide 65.438 billion US dollars to 2 billion US dollars next year. However, due to the differences in political arrangements between Poland and Eastern Europe, the limitation of funds and the importance of Britain and France's trade status to the United States, the focus of Exim Bank's funds has completely shifted to Western Europe. 2(P30.3 1)

1947 when the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union becomes increasingly obvious, it becomes more and more difficult to handle the normal economic relations between the two sides. Stalin declared: "It is impossible to maintain world peace under the current capitalist economic system" (P27) On March 6th of the same year, at 438+02, President Truman made a special speech to the joint session of the US Congress, requesting assistance to Greece and Turkey. "Truman split the world in two in his State of the Union address report and publicly called for the struggle against capitalism. At this point, the introduction of Truman Doctrine also marked the official beginning of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. " 4(P 107)

The appearance of the cold war forced the United States to change its strategic goal of leading the world after the war. The Soviet Union has become the biggest threat to the free world. It is the main security threat to peace under American rule and the main competitor of global expansion. Therefore, the United States began to launch a containment strategy to adapt to the Cold War: containment, disintegration and evolution of the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc headed by the Soviet Union. In order to achieve this purpose of "enduring patience", the United States pays more attention to economic means while making full use of military, propaganda and psychological offensive.

In line with the overall cold war strategy of the United States, the United States has introduced a series of economic policies. Increasing economic aid to Europe, 1947 launched the famous Marshall Plan, which made the strategic intention of the United States more obvious-foreign aid consolidated the anti-Soviet alliance in Europe. However, domestic opinions on the Soviet Union's economy and trade were not consistent at first. Domestic think tanks in the United States are widely controversial about whether to trade with the Soviet Union. Henry wallace, the former commerce secretary, and Vito Marcantonio, the left-wing representative of New York, advocated continuing normal trade with the Soviet Union. Wallace pointed out in his speech to southern lawmakers: "We need the market. Now we must play the role of developing trade relations with the Soviet Union to ensure the operation of our own factories, arm political enemies within Russia and avoid the danger of market depression." 5 (page 27)

The other faction, represented by Marcus, Chairman of the Foreign Trade Committee, advocates a trade blockade and embargo on the Soviet Union and its satellite countries in Eastern Europe. Marcus' attitude towards trade with the Soviet Union has a strong ideological component. In "Russia Facing Real Challenges" published by 1947, he pointed out: "Russia under the leadership of Bolsheviks has not changed people's living conditions. Russia under Stalin is a country ruled by secret police ... Stalin pursues global hegemony, which Roosevelt, Truman and their secretary of state did not realize. " 6(P29) The attitudes of the two parties to economy and trade are different from those of the Soviet Union, but they both pursue the purpose of serving the long-term interests of the United States. In the process of advancing the Cold War, the domestic economic policies of the United States towards the Soviet Union tend to be consistent, that is, to strike at the Soviet Union and its Eastern bloc through effective economic containment.

Since the Soviet Union explicitly refused to participate in the Marshall Plan, the the State Council Policy Design Committee and the Ministry of Commerce have been studying and formulating economic policies for the Soviet Union and eastern European countries respectively. 1947 12 after the Truman administration decided to adjust its trade policy towards the Soviet Union and its satellite countries, the US National Security Council formed a resolution to impose economic sanctions on the Soviet Union. The meeting decided: "The security of the United States needs to immediately and indefinitely stop exporting from the United States to the Soviet Union and its dependent countries all materials that are in short supply in the United States and help to enhance military potential" 7 (P5 12.5438+03) also marked the introduction of the economic containment policy of the United States to the Soviet Union and the socialist countries in Eastern Europe.

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From 1947, the United States began to implement the economic containment policy for half a century against the socialist countries in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. With the cold and hot relations between the two sides in the Cold War, the containment and anti-containment between them have also come and gone. In the early days of the Cold War (1947- 1950), the American economic containment policy towards the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe mainly revolved around the export control system, embargo, technical sanctions, economic blockade and sanctions against the socialist countries in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

1947 March 12 After President Truman issued the famous cold war declaration, members of Congress and party member took the opportunity to set off a strong anti-Soviet countercurrent. They directly quoted Truman's speech: "If we want to provide assistance to defend the free world, why should we export strategic materials to the Soviet Union?" 8(P84)*** Republican congressmen frequently put pressure on President Truman, forcing the Truman administration to quickly study the trade policy towards the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. The Ministry of Commerce then put forward a suggestion: after the war, the United States has been lifting trade controls, but only controlling weapons, ammunition and domestic shortages. In the future, we should strengthen the control of "all substances that help to enhance the military potential of the Soviet Union". Taking advantage of the ambiguity of the exceptions in the Charter of the International Trade Organization, the U.S. Department of Commerce put forward a bill on export control of the Soviet Union and Eastern European groups, which was quickly passed by Congress.

1947 65438+February 3 1 The U.S. Department of Commerce issued a new export license system. All export products, especially those exported to Europe, need new licenses. 1948 65438+1October 15, the Ministry of Commerce also stipulates that all kinds of merchant ships going to Europe must hold special licenses. March 1948, 1 The United States implemented a new export control system, which divided the three-level control system against German, Italian and Japanese fascists into two levels: R and O. The R category includes the Soviet bloc and western European countries, while the O category does not include all countries and regions in the R category, but the original classification countries in the United States have been changing. 1950, Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China entered into country R, and Western Europe returned to country O..

At the beginning of the Cold War, the United States also used the internal struggle between the Soviet Union and the Eastern European bloc to constantly change the level of trade control over Eastern European countries in order to divide the Soviet Union and the Eastern European bloc. The outstanding performance is that after the obvious conflict between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, the United States relaxed its export control to Yugoslavia, and pointed out in the declassified NSC 18/2 document: "All arms and materials can be considered for export to Yugoslavia except those conducive to the manufacture of atomic energy weapons." 9 (page 90)

In addition to the export control of the United States to the Soviet Union and eastern European countries alone, the United States also requires western European countries to maintain a consistent attitude towards the Soviet Union and the East European Group. 1949 in June, 5438+ 10, the United States promulgated the new Export Control Law. The United States pointed its finger at the Soviet Union and its socialist countries in Eastern Europe. Under this bill, the United States has made lists of 1A (total embargo) and 1B (export restriction) for itself and western European countries. To this end, the United States has also conducted long-term negotiations with European countries and finally reached a strategic agreement.

At the same time of export control, the United States has imposed long-term embargoes and economic blockades on the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries by virtue of its strong economic advantages. If the American trade control can be explained by the "exception clause" in the international economic law, then the embargo and blockade against the Soviet Union and the socialist countries in Eastern Europe are naked, and the politically hostile ideology is above the liberal economic concept. In order to effectively cooperate with the embargo and economic blockade against the Soviet Union and its socialist allies, the United States forced the western European countries to be consistent in their actions. 1949165438+1October, representatives from the United States, Britain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg gathered in Paris to form a "consultation group" to formulate a multilateral coordination plan for the implementation of trade control, embargo and economic blockade of strategic materials for the Soviet Union and its Eastern European bloc, and set up a permanent working body in Paris.

In addition to export control, economic blockade and embargo, the United States has also strictly controlled post-war high technology. The application of atomic weapons and new space technology are the direction of American technology blockade and sanctions. The United States actively expanded its economic, trade and technological space in the third world countries and expanded its sphere of influence, thus compressing the market extended by the Soviet Union and East China Group and completing the control of the socialist planned economic system from the outside.

At the beginning of 1950, with the promulgation of the export control law and the Paris coordination Committee, the economic containment system of the United States against the Soviet Union was established. 1After the Korean War broke out in June, 950, the two sides had a contest in Northeast Asia Peninsula. Although there was no direct war between the United States and the Soviet Union, the deterioration of the situation forced the Truman administration to be tougher on the Soviet Union, and at the same time, the export control, economic blockade and embargo of the United States against the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe reached the peak of the Cold War.

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In the early days of the Cold War, American economic containment focused on export control to prevent the Soviet bloc from acquiring strategic materials that would help enhance its military strength. But during the period from 1947 to 1950, economic containment was only a limited containment state. The United States and the Soviet Union have maintained a certain trade volume, but the content and share are decreasing year by year. 1949 After the founding of New China and the outbreak of the Korean War, Truman readjusted his strategic thought of economic containment of the Soviet Union under strong domestic and international pressure.

At the beginning of the Cold War, American economic containment of socialist countries in Soviet Union and Eastern Europe obeyed and served the whole cold war strategy. It originated from the need of ideological confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union, and also deepened the confrontation between the two sides. The premise of its implementation is the economic advantages of western capitalist countries headed by the United States. Export control system, embargo, technical sanctions and economic blockade are the embodiment of superior strength, which have caused difficulties to the Soviet Union and eastern European socialist countries to some extent, forcing them to seek their own market and trade system outside the western economic system. At the same time, it has also brought some additional burdens to the United States. When the United States asks its European allies to act in concert with it, it also needs more economic assistance from the United States. Some countries also see this obligation as an opportunity to blackmail the United States.