Ka Hoku o Hawaii, Volume XXXVI, Number 17, 20 August 1941 — Tool Builders Doubt Ability To Aid Russia [ARTICLE]

Tool Builders Doubt Ability To Aid Russia

CLEVELAND O., — Despite the fact that Russia would like to buy about $32,000,000 worth of machine tools to expand aircraft production, officials of the National Machine Tool Builders Association say it will be difficult to fill the orders because of American needs. Tell Berna, general manager of the association, said that the government is willing to grant export licenses for such machinery only if the equipment is not urgently needed in this country's defense program. He estimated that this country's factories still need some 100,000 new machine tools for airplane manufacture and that there is no immediate prospect for sending such equipment to Russia. Needs Are Listed The Soviet Union, it was said, wants such machine tools as horizontal border mills, internal grinding machines, gear tooth grinders, milling machines, hobbing machines, turrent lathes and automatic screw machines. In past years machine tool builders in this country are said to have found Russian business hard to obtain and difficult to handle but at the same time profitable because the Soviet paid promptly. In 1931, it was said Russian orders did save the business lives of a number of firms which now have defense orders running into the millions. In that year when domestic business was poor Russia took more than 20 per cent of American machine tool output. In 1938 when the Soviet was buying harvest machine tools, Russia's purchases ran to about $24,000,000 or about one-sixth of American production. Purchases Fell Off In the first part of 1941 Russian purchases of machine tools in this country dwindled to about $200,00 a month, a mere drop in the bucket compared with estimated tota; production of $130, 000,000.

Wtthin the pa<st fo\v \ve<>ks, howo\vr, maohino U»«l nii'ii saW cxport 15renses ha i boon issued for about §2,000.000 \vorth of or<lors. Aftor thf Gkrniun invasion, the State Departmont s\vitcehd its <- -\pori. pojicj xn roapect to RuSr sia and applications for pcrn\īssion to send ma,c])inery to tha,t country, a numbcr of thc*m montlis old, woīv grantcd inifliediately. Tiieac ordcns indudcd aome $10,000,000 worUi of oil weU naa- , chlncri' aml otlicr tools..