Bell Trade Act

The Bell Trade Act of 1946, also known as the Philippine Trade Act was an act passed by the United States Congress specifying the economic conditions governing the independence of the Philippines from the United States. WARNING: THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE IS A LEFTIST OPINION. THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE IS FULL OF HOLES. THIS IS A CLASSIC ANTI-AMERICAN RHETORIC.

The Bell Trade Act had controversial provisions that tied the Philippine economy to the United States economy:

• The Philippine currency, the peso, was to be pegged to the US dollar.
• The Bell Trade Act prohibited the Philippines from manufacturing or selling any products that might "come into substantial competition" with U.S.-made goods
• The Bell Trade Act required that the Philippine constitution be revised to grant U.S. citizens and corporations equal access to Philippine minerals, forests and other natural resources.
• This act allowed the U.S. to import whatever products/goods it wanted with no import duties.

One U.S. State Department official described the law as "clearly inconsistent with the basic foreign economic policy of this country" and a betrayal of "our promise to grant the Philippines genuine independence."

Protests throughout the Philippines denounced the Bell Trade Act. Even the reliably pro-American Philippine President Sergio Osmena called it a "curtailment of Philippine sovereignty, virtual nullification of Philippine independence."

The United States Congress was threatening to withhold post World War 2 rebuilding funds unless the Bell Act was ratified. The Philippine Congress obliged on July 2, 1946.

Through the 1970s and 80s, the United States owned 90% of all of the largest firms in the Philippines. Following WWII, the foreign debt owed by the Philippines was approximately US$640 million (1950s). By 1986, the debt increased to $22 Billion, and by 1998, the debt had amassed to over $40 Billion.[1]