This change brought more and more pressure from people in free countries to carry on increased trade with the Soviet bloc. Some groups had been clamoring for this all along, and had helped spread the time-worn Communist propaganda that a friendly and peace-loving "big brother" in Moscow was ready and waiting with an unlimited paradise of peaceful trade and that the only obstacle to its attainment was the strategic trade controls of the West. But now large numbers of _anti_-Communist businessmen, even though many of them were aware that the Communist propaganda was false and that Soviet policies had always been the prime deterrent to a large and peaceful commerce, felt that some increase in East-West trade would be beneficial as a supplement to their much greater trade in the free world. They recognized the limitations of the Soviet bloc as a stable, long-term trading partner, yet saw no reason why an expansion should not be sought. This attitude was stimulated by the Korean truce of July 27, 1953. It was also stimulated by the gestures that the Soviet Union began making in the direction of livelier East-West trade. Governments in the free world tended increasingly to the view that some revisions in Western controls might be made without sacrifice of security interests. =Basic Policy Reaffirmed= The new administration in Washington, taking account of such considerations as those, and wishing to be sure that United States policy was the most effective that could be devised, began a thorough review of the economic defense policy of the United States in the spring of 1953. This policy review was completed around the beginning of August. The third semiannual Battle Act report, which was published last September 28 and which covered the first half of 1953, stated that the conclusions of the review "will be reflected in the economic defense actions of this Government during the months to come." In the present report, which covers the second half of 1953, it is possible to give more information about those conclusions. As a result of the policy review _the basic economic defense policy of the United States was reaffirmed_. There were, however, some shifts of emphasis--with respect to trade with the Soviet bloc in Europe--designed to make the basic policy more effective. We shall discuss those shifts presently, but first let's summarize the basic policy as it has existed throughout the 6 months covered by this report. This basic policy of the United States on East-West trade rested on the following principles: