The Dollar Isn’t to Blame

The trade imbalance is more reflective of the lack of expertise in international marketing by American manufacturers than of the strength of the U.S. dollar, as suggested in “Trade Deficit in April Hits $11.9 Billion” (June 1).

The dollar has always been stronger than most other world currencies, and a trade deficit has always existed. It is now fashionable to be concerned about the trade deficit. That’s why so much is written about it nowadays.

American manufacturers are a happy lot when they have strength in our huge domestic market and all their efforts are geared in that direction. They don’t have the staff or the know-how to do a similar job in the international arena.

There is hope, however, in that there are exporters whose raison d’etre is to promote sales to other countries.

Exporters go about their business without any type of government assistance and are usually hindered by government export controls and the banking community’s lack of understanding of their financial requirements. A big step toward diminishing the trade deficit could be accomplished by supporting exporters with a small dose of pre-export financing.

JORGE M. MONTERO

Downey