Page:CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090018-7.pdf/40

 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090018-7

'''FIGURE 18. Geographic distribution of foreign trade, 1971 (U/OU)''' (chart/map)

trade agreement with the EC in July 1972. (The agreement also included Norway, which later rejected full membership in the EC), Sweden's traditional neutrality prevented it from seeking full membership in the EC, but economic considerations made some agreement vital: the new community of nine is expected to take about 55% of Sweden's exports. Sweden's agreement with the EC, and presumably also with Norway, will be implemented over a 5-year transitional period beginning in 1973. The transitional period is to be extended beyond 5 years for items such as paper, in order to protect "sensitive" EC industries.

Although expanding, Sweden's trade with the Communist countries still accounts for less than 5% of its total trade. Under various trade and cooperation agreements, Sweden exports a wide variety of products to the U.S.S.R. and East European Communist countries. The principal commodities traded include Swedish machinery, pulp, paper, motor vehicles, and specialty steels in exchange for foodstuffs, fuels, ores, wood and lumber, fertilizers, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, and machinery and transport equipment. Sweden has intensified its trade initiatives toward the People's Republic of China. In April 1972, for example, Sweden held a large trade fair in Peking, displaying mainly Swedish and selected foreign (including U.S.) machinery. In the past few years, China has brought an increasing quantity of Swedish

33

APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090018-7