U.S. capital infiltrates West Germany•

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from a German reader The well known West German weekly, Der Spei el, is worried about the ever= increasing | penetration of German industry by U.S. capital, In the October 6th issue, the journal quoted the Paris representative of the U.S. Morgan Guaranty Trust Company as saying "We will buy up the entire German industry." It further stated in that issue that the total U.S. investment in West Germany had increased from 4,000,000,000 to 9,200,000,000 West German Marks (approximately £356 million to £820 million) from the beginning of 1961 to the middle of 1965. The number of U.S. industrial and commercial enterprises in West Germany increased from 350 in 1957 to 1,150 by mid~1965, The paper said that many U.S. businessmen "have stepped through the door of the Common Market where they are now enjoying the fruit of tariff reduction," Describing how U.S, capitd infiltrated gradually into West Germany, the weekly said that the "clever gentlemen" of the American enterprises first of all spent a few dollars to set up a sales point in West Germany, then they invested the profits in some West German companies or factories, In a few years! time, they could afford to buy over or retuild one factory after another, In particular, the medium-sized West German enterprises in difficulties were the victims of the U.S. take-over, it noted. As competi-~ tion became sharper, these enterprises had to either affiliate themselves to the stronger competitor, or sell out. U.S. capital had frequently swallowed up West German enterprises through such a kind of cooperation. U.S. capital had also managed to obtain the bulk of the stocks of a certain West German enterprise by purchasing them piecemeal and thus seining control over it, the paper added. Disparity in the rate of exohange tetween the dollar and West German marks was also a great stimulus to the penetrat~ ion of U.S. capital, it said. The official rate was one dollar for four West German marks, but actually, its purchasing power today was only equal to 2.6 West German marks. This enabld U.S. big business to buy up West German industry more cheaply, the paper went one No doubt Der Speigel has overstated its case in order to chill the blood of its readers, but neverthe= less it makes interesting reading,