Title: Think Again: U.S. Foreign Aid – Foreign Policy
Headings: Think Again: U.S. Foreign Aid
Think Again
Think Again: U.S. Foreign Aid
Shortly after a tsunami swept through the Indian Ocean last December, a U.N. official complained that the West was stingy with its relief donations. Stung by this criticism, the Bush administration increased its financial pledge tenfold overnightwhile loudly asserting that the United States actually led the global pack in foreign aid. Is the worlds wealthiest country a scrooge or a savior?

Content: The United States Helps Poor Countries in Many Ways Besides Foreign Aid. Yes. The United States helps provide security around the world by keeping sea lanes open for commerce, providing peacekeeping forces, and airlifting supplies during emergencies, as evidenced by the U.S. militarys valuable role in tsunami relief efforts. U.S. trade and investment also accelerate growth and development. In addition, U.S. firms develop technologies such as medicines and the Internet that low-income countries can use at a fraction of the cost of creating them. Still, though the United States is one of the most open markets in the world, it imposes tough restrictions on poor countries. In fact, some analysts estimate that U.S. trade barriers inhibit growth in low-income countries much more than U.S. aid helps. Contrast the $350 million pledged in tsunami relief to the $1.8 billion in duties on imports collected from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and India in 2004. The United States collected almost as much in import duties in 2004 from Bangladesh ($314 million) as from France ($350 million), despite importing 14 times as much from France. In addition, U.S. agricultural subsidies undermine the incomes of poor farmers around the world.