388 REPORT ON COOPERATION IN AMERICAN EXPORT TRADE,
ing extracts exporting to. Pacific Ocean markets thinks that the
organization should be—

¢ * open to either American owned or foreign interests in noncompeting
lines when cooperation will promote efficiency and economy in extending markets.
 Such combinations must be voluntary, and must be mutually advantageous,
 or they will of themselves fall to pieces.
Admission of foreign interests should be conditioned on their not
being in the same business at home—A high official in a company
manufacturing and exporting steel products for 50 years reaches this
decision:
I would not exclude a foreign-owned concern provided the concern did not
maintain a foreign producing plant, but confined their producing energy to
America.

&amp;

The replies to this second division of question 5 reveal the fact
that the recommendations as to the admission or exclusion of foreign
concerns depend upon varying conditions. The opposing views
taken by prominent men of much experience in export business indicate
 that the question is one not easy to decide.

C. Smourp MemBersaIP IN CoMBINATIONS INCLUDE COMPETING AS
WELL As NoNCOMPETING Propucrs, ok BE RestricTED T0 NoONcoMPETING
 ONLY ?

1. TYPICAL REPLIES IN FAVOR OF BOTH COMPETING AND NONCOMPETING
prODUCTS.—A pproximately seven-eighths of those replying think that
it would be advisable for the membership of American export organizations
 to be unrestricted in respect to the products they handle.
That business must be up to the minute to meet changing conditions
 in the sale of its products is brought out by one manufacturer
in this epigrammatic sentence, “ What are noncompeting products
to-day may be competing products to-morrow.” i
Other replies given below go into the question in a more detailed
way.
Difficulty in determining the status of competing and noncompeting
 products.—This opinion is from the president of a company
selling electrical measuring appliances:
Vexatious disputes and delays could, for example, otherwise arise in determining
 in each instance just what actually constitutes a noncompeting product.
Again, a given manufacturer might, as in our case, turn out more than one line
of product. To be obliged to join a plurality of combinations—each for one—
for the sake of avoiding a legal restriction would defeat the purposes of combination
 for export trade by multiplying complications and expense just that
many fold.
A lumber trade paper gives this réply along the same line:

The difficulty as to this appears to be in formulating a classification to distinguish
 between competing and noncompeting products. Most produets in any
class are competitive among themselves, and as to many of them too fine distinctions
 might limit the field of cooperation to ineffective proportions. It
would be practicable, and no doubt desirable, to differentiate between competitive
 and noncompetitive products as to standard articles moving in large
volume, but as to the larger variety of products the restriction appears impracticable;
 and the natural competition, even under organization, of different
brands or varieties of the same general class of goods would be sufficient to
insure against undesirable results.